


Anywhere But Home

by KrazyKyStaHatter



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Abuse, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Original Mystery Twins, Romance, Running Away, Witch!Pacifica
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-03-23 02:50:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3751714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrazyKyStaHatter/pseuds/KrazyKyStaHatter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of the Northwest Manor Ball, Pacifica decides that she needs to run away from her toxic family. With nowhere else to go, she finds herself at the Mystery Shack. But there are more than just ghosts in this town. Witches, a psychotic dorito, a mystery writer, and strange creatures that call her name out in the woods. Gravity Falls is weirder than she had thought, and she may not be able to survive it.<br/>(Currently going through editing - Up to Chapter 6 remastered).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dancing and Anxiety Attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party goes on at Northwest Manor, but as people begin to leave, Pacifica begins to panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, I'm currently going back through this fic and editing it a bit.  
> Bit of important things to note:  
> 
> 
> * For the sake of plot-line, McGucket never came in to warn Dipper about the laptop. That will come in later.
>   
> 
> * All characters are aged up by roughly 3 - 5 years. The twins and everyone else their age are 17, which would make Wendy 20 and Soos 27. Most other people are roughly around the same age. The reason for this is that having been through some of this, I personally don't think that a 12-year-old is capable of making the decisions made in this story. Not properly anyway. (Also, as Alex says, 12-year-olds shouldn't focus on romance, they should focusing on Pokemon and pop tarts. I'm inclined to agree).
>   
> 
> * I started writing this shortly after 'Northwest Mystery Manor' aired. And I originally planned the entire thing and wrote the first eight chapters really fast. As such, I got a lot of things concerning Ford wrong. I have made the decision not to change this. So this fic will have first gen mystery twins and grandpa Ford (not grunkle).
>   
> 

Pacifica smiled as she looked over the room. It was so full and lively, and everyone seemed to be pretty happy. For once she didn't actually find this thing boring. And despite what she had feared, everyone was getting along. The rich and the poor, all laughing together and having a good time. None of the wealthy people seemed to be holding any animosity... well, except her parents.   

She saw them standing not too far off, scowling and looking at the town's people in contempt. They hadn't spoken to her since she'd let everyone in. She bit her lip anxiously, thinking about what they would say when they finally got the chance. Of course, they wouldn't dare make a scene in front of everyone.   

That feeling of dread swelled up within her. It formed into a tense ball that sat in her chest, making it feel hard to breathe. Her gut clenched, and she clasped her hands together to stop herself from nervously fidgeting. It would be fine. They'd just yell at her again. And she would go back to her room and pretend like nothing ever happened. The true way of the Northwests.   

Gathering her composure before anyone noticed, she looked away from her parents and out at the dance floor. Lots of people were dancing away, some with partners, some by themselves, or in a group. The most noticeable couple was Grenda and Marius. The larger girl was practically dragging him as she swept around the floor. But the both of them had huge smiles on their faces. It was actually quite entertaining to watch and even made her giggle a little.   

Not far away from herself, Dipper, Mabel, and Candy were dancing in a small group. They were doing a lot of weird moves, and not all of them matched up with the music. Mabel looked ridiculous most of the time, but sometimes she would grab her brother's hand, and they would do a small dance together. It was fascinating to watch. They didn't seem to have anything planned, and they didn't communicate with each other. They just instantly started doing the dance, as if knowing exactly what the other wanted. It was interesting the way the moved together... It must have been a twin thing.   

She felt a little left out and began looking around for her friends, Tiffany and Aubrey. They were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they'd gone home early... She felt herself deflate a little, disappointment welling up in her. She swore those two had some sort of animal instinct. They sensed a storm coming, and decided to get the hell out of dodge. It was a good idea... If only she could actually do it.   

Once again she looked out at everyone dancing. It was strange to think that only a few hours ago, a fair amount of these people had been turned into wood. It was almost shudder-inducing remembering watching Dipper be changed. His flesh turning to wood, slowly creeping from his legs, up his body, till he was completely lifeless. Fear and agony plain on his face. That was why she had done it. He had believed in her, he saw that she wasn't like her family. And he had given her the strength to defy them. It had been horrible to see it happen... It must have been so much worse for him to have seen it happen to his sister.   

“What are you looking for?” a voice said behind her. The sound itself had her panicking for a moment. She whipped around, thankfully only finding Dipper.   

“Oh, it's just you,” she said, her sigh of relief sounding slightly bitter out of habit. She saw the look of annoyance on his face and grimaced slightly. “Sorry. I was looking for Tiffany and Aubrey... but I guess they've gone home already.”   

“But, aren't they like, your best friends or something?” he asked. “I mean, they follow you around all the time, so... Shouldn't they be here for the ball.”   

“There's a bit of a storm coming. They don't like storms.”   

“But the weather's meant to be clear all week,” he said in confusion.   

She shook her head. “Never mind.”   

Dipper looked at her a moment. She seemed downcast and more quiet than usual. He knew they hadn't always gotten along, but things had changed tonight. He had seen an entirely new side of her, and seeing her like this was actually making him feel bad. “Hey, want to dance?” He held his hand out to her.   

Pacifica quirked an eyebrow when she heard what song was playing.  _Don't Know Why_ , by Norah Jones. It was more of a slow song. “Can you even dance to something like this?” she teased. Still, she placed her hand in his.   

“Of course I can,” he said, instantly leading her off on a slow waltz. His arm came up, so he was holding her waist, and her other arm automatically found his shoulder. His feet moved, and hers followed, perfectly matching it, though she was barely aware of doing so. For a moment she was nonplussed by the movement. He was good... Really good.   

“Wh-where did you even learn to dance like this?” she asked, slightly awed. She certainly hadn't expected this out of Dipper Pines.   

He just shrugged. “When we were younger Mabel wanted to do ballroom dancing. So naturally, I went with her.”   

“Do you two just do everything together?”   

“Pretty much. We're twins. She's my best friend. Most things we wanted to do together anyway, and the rest our parents made us go with each other. Mabel wanted to dance, I wanted to do boxing. They thought it was a fair trade.”   

“So you can both box and dance?”   

“Well...” he said, drawing the word out. She got the impression that if his hands were free, he'd be scratching the back of his head nervously. “Not exactly. I can dance, and Mabel can box... Not the other way around.” He gave her a sheepish grin. She smiled back.   

She never realised how nice he really was... She probably never knew because she was too busy being horrible to them. She started to feel the guilt slide down her throat like an unpleasant tar. She realised that she didn't want to be that person. The Pines twins were so nice to her, and she wanted to be nice back... they deserved it. But not only that, she didn't want to be who she was. She didn't want to be like her family. She'd always had her doubts about them, always knew that at least part of what they were doing was wrong. But she'd never had the courage to do anything about it. Never been able to stand up to them, but Dipper had shown her that she could do it. She just had to be brave enough.   

She looked back to where her parents were, only to see them glaring at her. The lack of air to her lungs happened astoundingly fast, and her head felt a little light. She was going to have to be  _very_  brave. Settling with distraction, for now, she looked back up at Dipper. At seventeen he was over a head taller than her... not something hard to achieve these days. He had a light, little bit of stubble on his chin, and his brown eyes were sparkling under the ball lights. He looked nice in the suit she'd lent him, but he did look a little odd without his hat. She was just so used to him wearing it. He was looking over her shoulder, his facial expressions changing a bit every few seconds and she realised he was pulling faces at Mabel. Some sort of silent communication. He looked back down at her and grinned again, albeit a little nervously. As he did, his hair moved about she saw something red on his forehead.   

“Hang on, what was that?” she asked curiously.   

“What was what?” He seemed a little confused and tried to follow her eye-line upwards.   

“That red mark on your head.”   

Hastily he took his hand away from her waist to flatten the hair over his forehead. For a moment he reached upwards as if to pull the brim of his hat down, only to find nothing. He looked a little dejected at that. It almost made her laugh. “It's nothing,” he said, placing his hand back on her waist. “Just a birthmark. I tend to keep it hidden.”   

“Yikes, fair enough. I'm glad that mine is somewhere easy to hide. No wonder you're always wearing that hat.”   

“You don't know the half of it.”   

The chorus of the music grew louder, then. And the two of them just continued to waltz, listening to the smooth lyrics.   

     
    

' _My heart is drenched in wine_    

 _But you'll be on my mind_    

 _Forever_    

     
    

 _Something has to make you run_    

 _I don't know why I didn't come_    

 _I feel as empty as a drum_    

 _I don't know why I didn't come_    

 _I don't know why I didn't come_    

 _I don't know why I didn't come..._ '   

     
    

Slowly the music faded out, and their movements slowed to a stop. Dipper stood back from her and gave an awkward chuckle, scratching at the back of his neck.   

“Yeah, so... now you know my secret.”   

“Secret?” she said, a little confused. What secret? Did he mean about the journal and all the weird stuff that went on in this town? His birthmark?   

“Yeah, that I can dance.”   

She smirked. “Out of everything, that's your secret?”   

“Well, not one of my biggest ones, but yes. I usually just tell people I don't really dance.”   

“Well, you're not horrible at it.”   

“Yeah, well, neither are you.”   

“Of course I'm not. I used to compete!”   

“Really?” he said, sounding delighted and surprised. “Me too!” He seemed to realise what he'd said. “I – I mean...”   

She just giggled at him. He seemed so uncomfortable about... well, everything. It was actually kind of endearing... She did not just think that.   

Looking about, her face drained of colour. When had the room gotten so empty?! What had once been a full ballroom not too long ago, had now dwindled down to the dregs of people. She watched as another couple left, waving a goodbye to the hosts. Since they weren't the townsfolk, her parents gave a half-hearted wave back. They still didn't look very happy. This wasn't good.   

“What's wrong?” She looked up to see Dipper looking at her in concern.   

“Everyone's leaving.”   

He looked at his watch. “Well, yeah, it's actually past midnight. Some people walked here, so they left a bit early. You really don't want to be out alone at night in this town.”   

“Because of all the crazy things here?”   

“Yep. Not even I know everything that goes on here. I only have one journal.” She looked at him questioningly. “There's three of them. I have the third one. Gideon Gleeful had the second, but I have  _no_  idea where that went. We've never seen the first. And we have no idea who the author is. That's my main priority at the moment. Just... well, the town is so overrun by all these creatures I keep getting distracted.”   

“I wonder why they suddenly started to show themselves now?” she mused.   

“Oh, they've been out and about for years. It's just that no one remembers. Turns out that Old Man McGucket was this brilliant scientist who worked with the author. But he couldn't handle what was going on and built a memory ray. He used it on himself so much that it drove him insane. But he also founded this secret society called The Blind Eye, who basically went around kidnapping people who'd seen something and erasing their memories of it... wonder why they never got me, Mabel, and Grunkle Stan...”   

“...This town is messed up,” was all she said in response.   

“Hey, Dipper!” Mabel's harsh voice called out. “Grunkle Stan's here to pick us up. He doesn't want us walking home, so he came to get all of us.”   

“Yeah, okay,” he called back. “Just give me a minute, I need to grab my clothes. You go on ahead.”   

“Okay!” She was pretty close by, but that didn't stop the eccentric girl from shouting. She gave her brother a wave before heading out the door with her two equally strange friends.   

Dipper turned back to Pacifica. “Um, would you mind telling me where I got changed again.”   

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “This way.”   

She led him out of the main hall and into the corridor. Even though she didn't dare look, she could practically feel her father's glare follow her till she was out of sight. Once she was in the corridor, she visibly relaxed. She knew that being out of his sight would do nothing to ease what awaited her, but it made her feel a little better... Well, until she thought about what awaited her, that is.   

Her house was huge, but she knew it so well that it wasn't long till they were at the guest room where he'd changed. A butler had neatly folded his clothes and placed them at the end of the bed, his hat sitting atop the pile.   

“Um... what should I do with the suit?” he said uncertainly.   

“Just throw it in the hamper.” She shrugged. “Or keep it. I don't know, your choice.”   

“Okay, thanks. Ah, I think I know my way back from here if you want to go back to the party.”   

“Right... Yeah. I should do that...” She paused at the door, then turned back slightly. “Um, Dipper? Thanks. For everything.” She shot him a small, but sincere smile.   

“N-no problem,” he stuttered. Okay, maybe it was still a little strange seeing her be this sincere. It was a nice change, but still a little odd. “I'll, um- I'll see you later.”   

“Yeah, later...” She forced another smile, then left to let him get changed in privacy.   

Since the party was technically still going, she had no choice but to go back to it. It was the polite thing to do, and to be honest, she would only make it worse for herself if she didn't. Walking back she felt like she had a rock sitting in her stomach. It weighed her down, making her moments slow. Her hands were so jittery that she screwed them up in the purple fabric of her dress.   

When she reached the ballroom, her heart almost stopped. There were only seven guests left! The room looked fuller than that of course, considering all the staff who were still working away. But she had been trained to look past them, and she knew her parents thought of them as practically non-existent until they wanted something. She saw their head butler, Murphy, standing not far from her parents. Seeing her enter he gave her a sympathetic smile.   

Since there weren’t many people left, there was no reason for her to mingle. Instead, she stood politely at the edge of the room, making sure she was close to the door. It wasn’t long till Dipper ran out past her, waving a goodbye.   

Marius left almost immediately after him. And not long after that the two policemen left, saying that they should patrol the roads and make sure everyone got home safely. Barron Applegate was still talking to her father, but two others walked out the door. Two more. There were only two guests left.   

The thought made her stomach churn, and she started to feel sick. Her nerves grew more and more tense as every moment passed. The woman in the fuchsia dress received a call to say her ride was there, then bid them a goodnight, and left. It was getting hard to breathe. She was – she was… she couldn’t breathe. Was she hyperventilating? She was most certainly becoming light headed, and things started to spin slightly. She was watching her parents talk to Barron Applegate as if she were staring down a long tunnel.   

He gave them a low bow and swept out the door. She flexed her shaking fingers, trying to get rid of the feeling of pins and needles that had crept into them. That was it. He was the last guest. Gone.   

Her father walked over to the door and shut it behind the man. Then he went to the side and placed his hand on the lever that she had pulled only a few hours ago.   

She couldn’t breathe.   

He pushed the lever up. The main gates closed with a resounding thud.   

She couldn’t…


	2. Tears and Toxic Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pacifica deals with the backlash from her toxic as hell parents and decides to run away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two has been edited. Thank you so much to my BEAUTIFUL friend, PeppermintDreamer, for making sure my American slang is up to scratch.  
> Just so you know, I am Kiwi, and we use English spelling. You have no idea how weird it is to write ‘mom’.  
> Speaking of mums, I relate a bit ~~WAY~~ too much to Pacifica. This is because my own mum and aunt are very much like her parents (just a little poorer, really). So the upcoming argument is based off some of the things that have been said to me at some point.  
>  So, without further ado, Chapter Two, brought to you by conversations with my mother.

“Pacifica!” her father's voice rang out in the empty room. He whipped around and stalked over to her, looming over her. The sight was horribly intimidating as if she wasn't already trembling enough. Her mother walked over to join him, and they both glared down at her. 

She knew that look, having been on the receiving end of it many times before. The one look spoke volumes. You're inadequate. You're a disappointment. You’re weak. You’re incompetent. You’re careless. You're foolish. You're immature. You’re flawed. You’re beastly. You’re wrong. You’re imperfect. You’re unreliable. You’re useless. You’re pathetic. You’re shameful. You’re a mistake. You've failed us. You're not worthy of being a Northwest because a Northwest is the best. 

Instantly she looked down, her hands clasped together in front of her. 

“Pacifica Elise Northwest, do you have any idea what you've done? Any idea of the shame you've brought on this family?” her father scolded. “I am furious with you. You directly disobeyed me! Letting all that… rabble into the house! Look at the mess this place is in!” 

“But Dad, if-if I hadn’t let them in then-” 

“Be quiet!” he snapped. “I am talking to you!” 

“Honestly, Pacifica,” her mother sighed. “You should know better than to talk back.” 

“But, Mom, all those people, your  _guests_ , would have died if I didn't-” 

“We told you not to talk back!” 

She hung her head again. “I'm sorry,” she said quietly. She really did know better. If she carried on that way, it wouldn't lead to anything good. 

“No you're not!” he shot back, making her flinch at his tone. “If you were sorry then you never would have done this. The house is trashed, our name is ruined. No one will ever come to the party ever again. No one wants to mingle with that lot.” His nose scrunched up in disdain as he spoke about the townspeople. “And just look at our good carpet!!! Mud  _everywhere_! What do you have to say for yourself?” 

“I'm really sorry, Dad,” she said, her voice still quiet. “But if I hadn't done it, that ghost was going to kill everyone. He can go through walls, he would have found us. And he was going to burn the house down. And Dipper-” 

“Dipper!” he hissed. “That Pines brat is the reason we're in this mess. His job was to capture the ghost before the party, and what does he do, he lets it go. And then he has the gall to start spewing false accusations at us. He's no different from that cheat of an uncle of his.” 

“He-he was just trying to help. The ghost broke free and-” 

“If we ever see you near that boy again we will make sure that he is out of this town for good. Stanford Pines is not fit to take care of children. All it would take is one phone call to Child Services, and it's back home to the city for them.” 

Her mouth dropped open in horror. They couldn't do that! They had no right! 

“You-you can't!” she cried. 

Her mother laughed, sounding horrifyingly close to a villain from TV shows. “Of course we can. And why do you care? It's not like you like them. They're not your friends, Pacifica. You're better than them. Or do you want to be a piece of garbage like them? You want this family to fall to ruin and for us to live out in the slums of the street, don't you?” She said nothing and her mother scowled. “Yeah, you're just a traitorous little bitch, aren't you?” 

She bit her lip, almost drawing blood. She wanted to say something. She wanted to defend herself, but she couldn't. It was her mother's favourite trap. It clearly wasn't true, and she refused to agree. But if she even opened her mouth to disagree, well... she knew what would happen. 

“See,” she said. “You're not saying anything because you know I'm right.” And there it was. That was the trap. “You've ruined everything. You and those Pines brats. You've been nothing but appalling since you met them.” 

“Nothing strange ever happened in this town until they came along.” 

She couldn't stand it any longer. Staying silent. It only made her angrier, wishing that she could say more. Accusing her was one thing. But Dipper and Mabel had been helping this town since they got here. Helping her. Dipper had been so kind to her, even though... Dipper had shown her that she could stand up to them. And she was going to. 

“No, they've always been happening!” she defended them. “But everyone in this town is just too dumb to notice! Just like they're too stupid to see how badly we treat them, and how much we lie to them!” 

Before she knew it, her father's hand was swinging around towards her. She didn't have time to block it or move away, only to tense and prepare for the pain she knew would come. His hand smacked into her hard, making her head turn with the force. She almost fell over but quickly righted her footing. It took a moment for the pain to actually set in, then suddenly her cheek was burning. Her hand flew up to press against it. Even with her glove on, her hand seemed slightly cooler, and that helped, but she used a little too much pressure, and it made her wince. Tears prickled in her eyes. She wanted to cry. In pain. In anger. But she refused to do it in front of them. 

“How dare you,” he growled. 

“I'm sorry,” she squeaked. 

“No, you're not! You're a selfish, spoiled little bitch. We gave you everything. We did everything so that you could have the best start in life. And you slander and disgrace us like we are the scum of the earth. We own this town, we own  _you_. You are supposed to do as you are told and act like a proper heiress. Instead you disgrace us at every turn.” 

He had slowly been walking towards her as he shouted, backing her up. And by now she was practically pressed against the wall. She didn't want to be standing close enough to him that he could hit her again. Once again, her mother stepped up beside him so that she could get in on the berating. 

“You're pathetic,” she sneered. “You think that you can run around with your new little friends and ruin everything.” She scrunched up her nose at the words 'little friends' sounding like she was talking about a cockroach. “You may as well go join them, you're no better than they are.” Pacifica hung her head, she knew how her family thought of other people. She knew what they thought of the Pines. They talked behind everyone's back once they were out of hearing range, even their friends. The only difference with her was that they didn't care if they said it to her face. 

“I-” 

“Shut up!” she hissed. “I don't want to look at you anymore. Go somewhere we won't have to see you.” 

Her entire body deflated. She knew that arguing further would lead to nothing good. But hearing that was like a punch to the gut. She also wanted to stand up for herself, but there was nothing she could say that her parents couldn't twist around. Nothing that wouldn't lead to more arguments, or more of a beating. 

She hesitated a moment, not sure whether to stay or to run. She watched as her mother turned her back on her, her father just scowled. It wasn't the scowl he used for others. No, this scowl was especially for her. It held just as much of the disdain, as well as disappointment, and a look that gave the impression of betrayal. 

Clenching her jaw and ignoring the pain it caused her, she held her head high, turned on her heal and strutted off down the hall. The further she got away from them, the more her strut turned into a run, and the more the tears welled up in her eyes. By the time she reached her room, she was gasping and sobbing. Angry tears streaked down her face as she slammed the door and kicked it for good measure. She scrubbed furiously at her eyes, annoyed at the tears for falling. She shouldn't be crying. She couldn't. She was stronger than that. She paced the room a few times, too livid and upset to stay still. She shook her hands vigorously, trying to get the trembling to stop. She hadn't stopped crying yet, but she would. She was stronger than that. 

Oh, who was she kidding? She wasn't strong at all. She was just a stupid little girl who was too weak to stand up to her parents, so she took it out on other people. She was no better than them. 

Her pacing slowed right down, and she slumped to the ground. She curled up, holding her knees. Her back fell against the side of her bed, and she hung her head in the hollow between her knees and her chest. She didn't care about not crying anymore, she just let it come, a heaving sob wrenching its way out of her body. 

It wasn't fair. Everyone else already treated her like she was the worst person in the world. Yeah, that may have been her fault. But not her parents. Her parents shouldn't be treating her like that. They always told her that she was supposed to be the best, but everything they did and said only continued to prove that she was the worst. Parents weren't supposed to treat their kids the way hers did. 

She continued to weep, memory after memory passing through her head. All the things her parents had said to her for the last few years raging through her head, drowning her in their torment. Thinking about one thing made her think about more. And more and more painful memories of her parent's abuse resurfaced, making her curl up tighter. She didn't deserve this. Or maybe she did. She didn't know anymore. 

There was only one thing she did know. She couldn’t stand this anymore. She had to get out. She had to get away from this toxic life, and those toxic people. She had to get away. She had to. 

    
  

It took a while for her to calm down enough to stop crying and collect herself. But when she did, she stood on numb, shaky legs, a new resolve in her eyes. Her face was set in determination as she headed towards her closet. She forced her way out of the horrible, uncomfortable dress her mother had made her wear, slipping into something more comfortable. Then she pulled her suitcases from the back of her wardrobe and began to browse her clothes. 

She began picking enough outfits to last her a couple of weeks, as well as any other essential items. And by essential, they probably weren't, but she'd need them for something, right? She had clothes prepared for any type of weather, even freezing cold weather. Since it was summer she probably wouldn’t need them, but who could take that risk. After adding all her beauty products and bathroom accessories, she had about five suitcases... Yeah. There was no way that she was getting out of here with all those. 

There was a sudden beep that distracted her, and she went over to her dresser where she'd left her phone that night. She picked it up to see a message from Tiffany. 

' _Howd_ _it go?'_  was all it said. 

' _Not good,'_ she typed back. She went over to the wall and pressed the buzzer that would have a butler come. She made sure to type in the code so that she would get one in particular. Her phone went off again. 

' _O dear. Scale of 1 – 10?_ ' 

' _20\. I'm running away.'_  

She went into her closet again and went even further into the back. She found one of her old school backpacks that she used to use before she got to high school and started using either a satchel or some swooning kid to carry it for her. She could have used a hiking pack, but that was a little big. She'd need something small and light if she were going to escape. She was partway through packing it with the most essential things when her phone went off again. 

' _Wait, wat? No! That a bad idea. U no wat will_ _hapen_ _if u do. Not_ _gonna_ _go well.'_  A small mix of anger and self-doubt burst through her. On the one hand, she was annoyed that her friend would try and stop her when she knew full well what her parents were like. But on the other hand, Tiffany  _was_  right. No. She'd made up her mind. She was going. 

' _I can't take anymore,_ _Tif_ _. I'm just going away for a few weeks. They'll probably calm down by then.'_ There was a quiet knock at the door right as she sent the text. 

“Come in,” she said. The door creaked open, and Murphy stepped in. 

“Ma'am.” 

“Murphy! I need you to do me a favour. A huge favour.” 

He smiled fondly and rolled his eyes, something that only he could get away with, and only with her. “Ma'am, I am your butler. It is my job to do as you ask.” 

“Yeah, but this is big. Really big. You can't tell my parents.” He nodded in understanding. She knew that he wouldn't. Murphy had been with them long before she was even born, he had known her all her life. He was the only one in this house that she could trust completely. “I'm running away.” 

He looked about at all the bags on the ground. “Looks to me like you're more going for a holiday to the lodge, Miss Pacifica. There's no way you can take all this with you if you don't want your parents to notice.” 

“That's why I need you,” she told him. “I have this small bag to take with me for tonight. I thought that when I find a place to stay for a few weeks, I could message you, and you could bring my bags to me there.” 

He nodded, knowing what she was like with her things. “Alright. Do you have a place to stay tonight?” 

“Um... not really.” 

“Would you like me to call a hotel for you?” 

“No, no, it's okay. I need to go somewhere where they can't trace me. They'll find me at Tif or Aubrey's place. I'll just find someone who'll put me up. I doubt many people would be adverse to it if I give them a few hundred.” 

“As you wish, as long as you stay safe.” 

She smiled at him. “I will.” 

“Though, I will request that you do not leave right away. I have some things to give you that may help you.” 

She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll stay a little longer. I should probably write a note to Mom and Dad. They won’t find it for a while, so…” 

“A wise idea, ma’am. Would do better than having wide-scale investigations. I shall take your bags and be back with some aid.” 

“Thank you, Murphy,” she said gratefully. 

The man went over to her bags and expertly picked all of them up at once. Then he left her room. She wasn’t scared that he would be caught. Her parents would have gone to sleep already. She quickly finished packing her small bag full of night clothes and a few changes for the next day. She found her sneakers and put them on, as well as a nice warm jacket. It was pretty chilly outside tonight. It was when she went to pack her phone in the bag that she saw another text from Tiffany. 

‘ _They r_ _goin_ _2_ _kil_ _u, Paz._ _Dont_ _do this.’_  

‘ _It’s fine. I have everything sorted. I need you to cover for me. If they ask, you know nothing about this.’_  

She chucked the phone in her bag and zipped it up. Then she went over to her desk and began her letter. It started out as a simple explanation of why she was running away, but the more she went on, the more she found herself venting about how they treated her and how it made her feel. She wanted to scribble half of it out so that they wouldn't see it, and would never have to respond to it. But some defiant part of her wanted them to see it, wanted them to know how she truly felt and saw them. And yet another part of her wanted to screw it up and start again, leaving a fair amount out. By the time she was done writing the letter, she was a frustrated, sobbing mess again. She folded the paper up, scrawled 'Mom and Dad' on the outside, and placed it on her bed. 

She wiped at her eyes and grabbed up her bag. She was just waiting on Murphy now. As it turns out, she didn't have to wait long. She had only been sitting on her bed for a minute when he came in, a small bag in hand. 

“Ah, good. You're still here,” he said with a smile. She returned his smile and jumped off the bed to go talk to him. “Right, I have some things you will need. Good, I see you're dressed sensibly for this.” 

“No, Murphy. I'm going to hike around town in the middle of the night in my ball gown.” 

He just shook his head at her sarcasm. “Right, first off...” He reached into the bag and pulled out a flashlight. “You'll need this. It's very dark out there. This is high powered and solar charged so it won't run out tonight.” Next, he pulled out a cellphone and charger. It wasn't as flash as her own, but it wasn't too shabby either. “Use this phone when you are set up. Your parents don't know the number, so it can't be traced. My number is already in there if you need me.” He pulled out a bottle and a small bag of what looked to be sweets. “It's a bit of a hike into town, especially if you go the way I have planned. This will help keep your energy up. And finally...” He pulled out a piece of paper and a small grey disk attached to a key-chain. He lay the paper out on her desk, and she saw that it was a blueprint of the house. Certain things had been marked out in different colours. “This is how you are going to get off the grounds. Of course, after tonight, security is set to maximum. So you're going to use the servant's passageways to leave the house. There is a door into them directly across from your room, but you'll have to wait for the camera to turn this way.” He pointed out the door and the camera, and she nodded in reply. She knew the one he was talking about. “Follow the passage along here and downstairs. If you turn right here, it will lead you to the kitchens. Once again, you will have to avoid the camera here. The back door to the kitchen will take you out to the back of the house, which is where you need to be. You'll need to use this to get through the door. The code is on the schematics.” He gave her the disk, and she recognised it as the sensor keys they gave to the servants so that they could get in and out of the house. Murphy was the only live in butler. “Once you're out, stick to this wall, you won't be fully out of the way of the camera, but you'll be less noticeable. Once you get to here, follow this path I've marked across the garden. It's a very thin blind spot. Over here by the wall, there is a small wooden door. It hasn't been locked in years but is a bit stiff. It will take you right off the property and into the forest out the back. Now, the forest is  _not_  safe. But you'll have to travel through it just to the bottom of the hill. Try and head this way so that you can meet up with the road at the bottom of the driveway. From there you can walk into town. If you can't find anywhere, I want you to ring me. I also want you to message me if you do find somewhere safe. Understood?” 

She nodded again, looking in awe over the information and items he had given her. “holy crap, Murphy. You could rob this place if you wanted to!” 

Murphy just winked at her. “Alright, now take these things and go. I'll cover for you for as long as I can.” 

Tears began to well up in her eyes, but this time for an entirely different reason. Without warning, she threw her arms around the butler's waist. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Murphy smiled fondly, patting her on the head. “It's alright, my dear. Now, you best get going. It's getting very late.” 

She drew apart from him and nodded. With one last reassuring smile, he left the room. She unzipped her bag again and put in the cell phone and its charger. She popped one of the sweets in her mouth before she put that and the drink in her bag too. She zipped it back up, swung it over her shoulder, and headed out of the room. 

She flicked off the light and watched the camera just down the hall, waiting till it was facing away from her. When she was sure she wouldn't be seen by it, she dashed across the hall to a door that was slightly hidden by the wallpaper that covered it. It opened easily and she slipped in and closed the door. She was instantly plunged into darkness, and she let out a small yelp of surprise, fumbling for the flashlight. When she managed to turn it on, she the thin beam illuminated a thin, dark corridor. It was shabby and looked like it hadn't been looked after like the rest of the house since it had been built. There were many small spider webs about, and she shuddered thinking about the creepy crawlies that would be lurking around. 

Taking a deep breath, she began down the passageway, looking at the blueprints for guidance. It was strange, but even though she was in such a confined space, she felt as if she were only getting lost. It was like being in a maze. It seemed to take a long time till she reached another door, and she was scared that she'd made a wrong turn somewhere. But when she opened the door, she found herself in the kitchens. 

Following Murphy's instructions, she went to the door and scanned the disk. When it asked for a number, she entered the four-digit code that was written at the top of the paper. The machine beeped green, and the automatic lock snicked open. Quickly, she snuck out the door and crept along as close to the wall as she could, until she came to the spot that had been marked out. From there, she crossed their massive lawn, making sure to keep close to all the landmarks she could see that were inside the highlighted blind spot. Finally, she came to the big wall that marked the edge of their property. Well, they owned the entire hill, but their building officially stopped at the wall. She knew that the top was rigged with barb-wire that set off an alarm if enough pressure was put on it. So the door was the perfect option. 

It took her a minute or two to find it. It wasn't as clear as she thought it would be, and it was hiding behind a bush. It was also  _very_  small. She would have to push her backpack though first, then crawl out after it. It looked just wide enough, though. The hatch to open it was rusty and it took more than a few good pushes to wrench it open. The screech it made as it did was so loud in the silent night, she was scared for a moment that someone would have heard it. But when no lights turned on in the house, she carried on. She took her bag off and pushed it through the gap and off to the side. Then she wriggled past the rest of the bush and got down on her hands and knees, almost commando crawling through. By the time she was on the other side, her hands, elbows, and knees were covered in dirt. With a sigh of annoyance and disgust, she brushed away as much as she could. Then she knelt again and pushed the little door closed. 

Starting to feel tired, Pacifica leant against the wall. Thank god that was over and done with. It had turned out to be a bit easier than she had originally thought, but it was still a relief. She was out of there. She was free. All she had to do now was make her way into town and bribe someone to let her stay the night. Should be easy enough. Most people around town would do anything for a decent sum of money. She just hoped that that trait of theirs wouldn't backfire and lead to them selling her out. 

She stopped a moment to open her bag. She put the disk and the blueprints in there now that she was done with them. Then she took a long swig of the drink and popped another sweet in her mouth. She grabbed a small handful and put them in her pocket so she wouldn't have to keep stopping to get them out. 

After one last look at the map, she did the bag back up and hoisted it onto her back. With a faint smile, she strode off in the general direction that would end up getting her to the road. The walking was a little tricky. There was no clear or defined path, just random little ridges that must have been created by animals at some point. And not only was it hard to see, even with the light from the flashlight, but the ground was slippery due to the layer of pine-needles that littered the ground. 

She wandered down the hill for what seemed like a while. She was sure that she should be coming to the road soon, but she couldn't see any sign of the trees thinning out. Maybe she really had taken a wrong turn this time? It was hard trying to navigate a forest when you had nothing to go off and no sense of direction. There would have been a high chance of her having walked in circles a few times if it weren't for the fact that she was still on the hill. The only logical way to go was down. As she kept going, the more she felt as if she were becoming hopelessly lost. 

She stopped again, hoping to try and gain some idea of where about she could be. That was when she heard it. A clear, familiar voice ringing through the forest. 

“Pacifica!”


	3. Terror and Comical Band-Aids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pacifica runs from an unknown horror and stumbles upon the Mystery Shack. Thankfully, she just made two new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, This chapter introduces my big bad monster for the series. I'm not actually going to tell you what it is for a LONG time, though. I have a bit of a game going on for people to guess the monster. No prize, sorry. But I am genuinely curious to see if someone can guess it before the reveal.  
> I also recently got 'Dipper and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Fun', so there'll be a few references to that along the way.  
> 

“Pacifica!” 

Instantly, she froze in place, her heart stopping a moment before beating hard against her chest. No, it couldn’t be. Not yet! 

“Pacifica!” her father’s voice rung out for the third time. It sounded like it was coming from off to the left, but she couldn’t tell how far away he was. 

But it wasn’t possible. They couldn’t have caught her already? She was sure that they wouldn’t have even woken up if she tried to escape  _without_  Murphy’s help. 

“Pacifica, darling, please come back home!” another voice called. Her mother. 

No. No, it couldn’t be them. They wouldn’t have noticed she was gone by now. And if they had, they  _wouldn’t_ be this nice. After tonight, they would still be furious. 

“Pacifica!” they both shouted. 

Her heart suddenly felt as if it had been hit with a brick of ice. She felt cold, and her breath stuck in her throat. It wasn’t them. 

Without another thought, she took off running. She ran away from the voices as fast as she could. They weren't her parents. Whatever it was, it wasn't them. Dipper had said that there were dangerous things out at night. And Murphy had said that the forest was dangerous. After tonight she should have known better. 

She ran as fast as she could, the voices continuing to shout out her name. They didn't sound as if they were getting any further away. Panicked, she pressed on. The flashlight in her hand was swinging wildly, making it hard to see. 

Suddenly her foot caught on something, and she found herself tumbling to the ground, her stomach feeling like it was left behind. She crashed down hard on her knees, sticks and pine needles digging into her. She continued to fall, her hands failing to catch her properly, and felt her chin graze the ground. The flashlight was thrown from her hand and skittered down the bank. With a small crunch, the light disappeared, and she was plunged into darkness. 

“No, no, no, no!” she cried, scrambling up and trying to get to where she had last seen the light. 

“Pacifica!” 

They were so close! Ignoring the light, she got to her feet and started running again. Not used to the darkness, she had no idea where she was going. She stumbled many times and-and at first almost ran into a tree. She could tell that she was running downhill, but it seemed like the trees were getting thicker. As the hill started to even out into flat, she was sure that the trees should be getting thinner by now. Instead, she was barely missing them as she ran, sometimes getting scratched by stray branches. The voices were still following her. They never seemed to gain on her, but they were always getting closer. 

She continued running, searching for anyway out she could. Then she saw it. Light. There was light up ahead. She ran towards it as fast as she could, tripping on yet another tree branch on the way. She burst out of the trees into... a sparkly clearing. All around her, the clearing was dimly lit and glittering. She couldn't tell what was making it glow like that, but it was kind of strange, and very magical. It looked like some kind of fairy glade or- 

“Ah!” she cried, as she fell over for the... well, she'd lost count of how many times she'd fallen over. 

“Ah!” something cried back. 

“Ah!!!” echoed many voices. 

She looked down to see that she'd tripped over a pile of... little men? There were a whole lot of little men with beards and pointy hats...  _What the hell?!_  

“Eh? Who the hell are you?” asked the only one with a beard that wasn't white. “What are you doing in our forest?” 

“I – I – Um-” 

“Pacifica!!!” Her head whipped around in fear at the voice, and suddenly every single little man in the area began to scream in panic. 

“It's coming!!!” the same one shouted. “Run! Everyone flee!” He stopped and turned back to her. “Welp, it was nice knowing you, pretty lady. Shame you're gonna be eaten because you would have made a lovely Gnome Queen. But I gotta skedaddle. Bye!” And quickly he dashed up a tree, a bunch of squirrels flocking him and getting him up faster. 

Taking the hint, she began to run again, struggling to make her way across the gnome-infested ground. There were way more of them than she had thought, all scurrying to find a safe place. One even tried climbing up her leg, but she kicked it off. 

It wasn't long till she'd cleared the sparkly part of the forest, and was back in the regular forest. And once again, her sight was lessened because of her recent exposure to the light. She chanced a glance backwards. She couldn't really see anything. The gnome forest was still sparkling lightly, but it seemed quieter now. That was all. There was nothing else to indicate that a creature of unknown horror was- 

“Ahhh!!” she cried as she fell yet again. This time a sharp pain shot through her foot, making her wince. She got up again and went to run. Pain lanced through her foot again. “Ah, ow!” She hobbled slightly and almost toppled over as she failed to balance on the foot that wasn't hurting. Crap, she'd hurt it badly. But she still had to flee. Gingerly, she tried to take yet another step, only putting pressure on the foot for a fraction of a second. “Ow!” Okay, limping it was. She could do this. She just had to get out. She just had to find the road and- 

“Pacifica! Please, honey, come home!” 

“We love you, sweetheart. Come to me!” 

Nope. Fuck that. 

Ignoring the pain, she began to run again. It was slow and staggering. Each step brought her pain, but in her determination to get out of there she found she was able to ignore it. As she ran, she became aware of two things. One was that the trees were starting to clear slightly, enough that she could be running on what could be classed as a path... a trail at least. The other was a strange chattering, swooshing sound... Water! She was near a river. Oh, that may not be a good thing. 

The sound got louder and soon she was running to the bank of a river. She began to panic all over again. What was she going to do? How was she going to get around it?! Looking about wildly, she saw a shadow on the river. With the trees gone from the area, there was just enough moonlight to show that the shadow was a large log lying across the body of water. She was so relieved, but there was no time to celebrate. Quickly she crawled onto the log and carefully moved across. If she fell, she was screwed. 

It seemed that the log was used as a bridge often enough that the top layers of bark had been worn down so it was much smoother. It meant that her knees didn't get torn up as much as they already were, but it still hurt. Once at the end, she jumped down, cringing as she jumped on the foot. Tears were streaming down her face, but she only realised they were there because of the cold wind whipping at her. She took a last look back to the other side of the bank, praying that whatever was chasing her couldn't climb a log or swim. Right now there was nothing over there... wait, something moved. She peered closer. She could just make out the silhouette of... a deer or something, but it just leant down to eat some grass. 

Not wasting any more time, she turned and started running again. Soon she was back in another forest, but this time it seemed thinner, and she was running on a defined trail. She heard the creature call out again, noticing something that gave her a bit of hope. She listened for the second call carefully... It was quieter. They were getting further away. They were still on the other side of the river! She slowed her pace till she came to a standstill. She was exhausted, ragged breaths being pulled from her lungs. She leant carefully, so she was resting on her knees, but also so that she was putting all her weight on one leg. No, that wasn't going to work. She needed to lie down. She needed to sleep. 

Desperately she looked about. The trees looked as if they were starting to clear, and she could see... a light! There was a light ahead. That probably meant that she was near a street. Or even better, a house. She could pay whoever it was to let her stay the night. Right now, anything was better than this. 

She waited a few more minutes to catch her breath, then took a step forward and gasped, her leg buckling underneath her. The adrenalin was starting to wear off now, and it must have been keeping her from feeling just how bad her ankle was. And then she'd continued to run on it, and probably made it worse. Now that she'd slowed down, she was really starting to feel the pain. She'd probably twisted the ankle. She was covered in aches, and sore spots she knew were going to come out in nice dark bruises. And sharp stinging ones where she'd been scratched. Her leg itched, and she had the feeling that she had blood running down it from a cut. 

Behind her, that thing called out again. It still wasn't getting any closer. She puffed out a sigh of relief and started onwards. Slowly she limped towards the light, her foot aching sharply with every step she took. It was still quite a bit of a walk across the empty stretch of grass that spanned her path to the light. And it was taking even longer because of her pace now. 

It was as she passed the looming shadow of a totem pole that she realised where she was. The Mystery Hack... er, Shack. Dipper and Mabel. They were all on better terms now. They'd take her in for the night, right? At any rate, they knew what was out there, and they wouldn't want her out in it. Dipper had said so himself, you don't want to be out here at night. 

By the time she got to the door, she just wanted to curl up in a ball. She was sore, and tired, and feeling upset and shitty. And quite frankly she felt she had sunk so low that she'd be willing to sleep on their porch if they didn't let her in. She just couldn't go any further. 

Raising a grazed hand, she rapped on the door and waited. When no one came after a minute, she knocked again. Still no one. It was as she was about to knock for a third time that she heard footsteps coming towards the door. She wobbled on her foot and clung to the door frame as the handle rattled. The door swung open, and she was faced with the oh so pleasant sight of Cheapskate Pines in his boxers and a tank top... Ew. 

He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. “Pacifica?” he said in surprise. She gave a slight nod, unsure of what to say. He took a closer look at her, and his eyes widened when he saw the state she was in. “Holy cow, what happened to you?!” 

“I, um – I was walking through the forest, and there was some sort of freaky creature out there calling to me. So I started running, and then I fell down a few times. And I  _really_  hope I don't look as bad as I feel.” 

“Well, what the hell were you doing out in the woods?” 

“Uh... I was coming to see Dipper,” she said, not entirely lying. 

He raised a sceptical eyebrow. “At four in the morning?” 

She looked about, trying to think of an excuse. She didn't have one. She hadn't realised it had gotten so late. “...Yes.” 

He looked her over critically again, his eyes narrowing. “Alright, fine. Come in.” She breathed out a sigh of relief and stepped inside. But she put too much weight on her injured foot and winced in pain. Stan noticed this and frowned slightly. “Here,” he sighed. She looked up at him to see him offering her his arm. 

With a hesitant smile, she placed her hand in the crook of his arm. “Um, thanks.” 

“Yeah, well, don't want you messing that ankle up even more,” he grunted as he led her inside and helped her over to the couch. It was old and grotty, and she didn't really want to sit on it. But there wasn't really a cleaner option. Once she was sitting, he cleared things off the side table and pulled it around in front of her, placed a pillow on top, and suddenly grabbed her leg and propped her foot up on it. The movement was unexpected, and she let out a yelp. She almost let out another when she saw that the side table was actually a large skull or something. Some sort of dinosaur by the looks of it.“I'll go get Dipper. Knowing him, he'll probably still be up looking at that blasted journal.” 

He left the room muttering something about how he could swear 'that boy' knew the entire thing by heart by now. His voice faded out, replaced by the creaking of the stairs. She pulled the bag off her back and placed it on the couch beside her. Opening it, she took a quick look at her phone. There were only a few messages from Tiffany, telling her to do what she wanted since she would anyway, and that they would talk in the morning. ' _Do what you want, you always do anyway_ '. Yeah, because that made her feel even better right now. Huh, it really was after 4am! She grabbed the other phone that Murphy had given her and quickly sent him a message to tell him she was safe... well, barely, but she had made it somewhere. 

Thankfully there were no messages from her parents. Of course, they probably wouldn't realise she was gone until the next night. When she didn't come down for breakfast or lunch, they would think she was sulking. It wouldn't be until dinner, and they demanded her presence that they would find her gone. It was probably better that way. The longer they took to notice, the longer she wouldn't have to deal with them trying to get a hold of her... that was a daunting thought. 

Next, she took off her jacket and stuffed it in. It was much warmer in this little room than it had been outside. The TV was still going, so Stan must have been watching something. But it was now playing some black and white period piece old lady boring movie... Something called 'The Duchess Upholds'. It looked seriously boring and weepy, she highly doubted a man as... er... well, a man like the twins great uncle would watch something like that. 

It wasn’t long till she heard someone coming back down the steps, distracting her from how gross the couch was. She looked over to the doorway to see Dipper walk into the room. He was wearing his usual red-ish orange shirt and a dark blue pair of boxers. His hat was absent, but he was holding something in his hand. He looked a little groggy, but she could tell that, like her, he hadn’t slept at all yet. 

He stopped short when he saw her. “Pacifica?” 

“Is everyone in your family going to have the same reaction?” she said sarcastically. 

“Sorry, Grunkle Stan didn’t actually tell me who was down here. I’d narrowed it down to Wendy, Candy, and Grenda. He said you were a bit scratched up- Oh wow, you are  _really_  scratched up! What happened?” He came and knelt next to her, opening the pack in his hand which turned out to be a first aid kit. 

“I was walking through the forest, and then something started calling out my name. I kind of got freaked out and started running, and I tripped up a couple of times. I mean, it was dark, I couldn’t see.” 

He looked at the bag beside her and quickly came to a conclusion. “You ran away from home.” 

“Yep,” she sighed. 

“What were you doing in the woods? Where were you heading?” 

“I don’t know. I went the back way out of my house, and that leads right into the forest. I was trying to think of where to go when those things started up.” 

“What about Tiffany and Aubrey? Couldn't you stay with them? I mean, the road there is much safer.” 

“That’s the first place my parents will look. Come tomorrow they’d be around there and dragging me back home. Plus the road to my house is covered in security sensors and cameras.” 

“Oh, fair enough, I guess. …Did you hurt your ankle?” He gently picked it up in his hands. 

“Ow!” she cried out. “Yes! Yes, I think I twisted it!” 

“Sorry,” he said. Being even more careful than before, he lightly felt around it and gently prodded it. It seriously hurt for him to do that, but she knew he was trying to help, so she just held her tongue and winced. “Yeah, it's definitely twisted, at least. Could be strained. I'll get some ice for it, and bandage it up. It's already swollen and bruised, but it will help. And you've also got a lot of bruises and scratches, so I'll put some ointment on them.” 

“Right little medic, you are,” she teased. He smiled at that. 

“Mabel and I are kind of what you'd call 'accident prone'. I got pretty good at fixing us up over the years.” 

“Oh.” 

“Okay, this is going to hurt, but I'm going to have to take off the shoe.” She bit her lip, not liking the idea, but gave him a firm nod. Carefully as he could, he untied the shoe and pulled the laces out so that it was as loose as possible. Then he slowly slipped it off. It felt like someone was twisting her foot around while it was covered in small knives. She wanted to yelp, but instead, she clenched her teeth and gripped onto the armrests till her fingers were white and stiff. Once the shoe was off, the pain didn't quite recede, but it felt better than when it was being touched. She let a hissing breath escape between her teeth as she relaxed again. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?” 

“As much as I can be about now,” she said with a grimace. It was supposed to a smile to cover up how much she was hurting, but she was tired, and her poker-face wasn't what it usually was. 

Dipper just rolled his eyes and began to look at her cuts and scratches, assessing how bad they were. He worked his way up, checking over her legs, hands, arms, then moved onto the ones on her face. She had a small graze on her chin, and a decent scratch across her forehead. But what was most concerning, was a bruise that was already pretty dark on her left cheek. At the darkest part, he could just make out a mark or imprint of some kind. It looked like a zig-zag inside a circle. No, hold on... it was a 'Z'. No, to wide. It was an 'N'. A backwards capital 'N', like someone had forgotten to invert the letter on a stamp. His eyes narrowed when the darker option entered his mind. It was like someone had backhanded her while wearing a ring with an 'N' embossed into it. 'N' for Northwest. Her father. Preston Northwest had been wearing a ring like that on the middle finger of his left hand. 

“What?” Pacifica demanded, snapping him out of his thoughts. 

“What? Oh, nothing. I'm going to go get that ice. I'll be back in a moment, okay.” 

“Yeah, okay. Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, almost looking embarrassed to be there. More than likely though, he had the feeling it was more than just her being superficial. 

He gave her a nod, then went into the kitchen to get what he needed. Grunkle Stan was in there, sculling back a glass of water... or at least, he assumed it was water. He couldn't smell alcohol, so that was a good sign. As he went into the draws and grabbed a few hand towels, he steadied his resolve, then turned to face his uncle. 

“Ah, Gunkle Stan?” 

“Mmm?” he grunted. 

“Would it be alright if Pacifica stayed here a while?” 

“Doesn't she have anywhere else?” 

“Uh, no. Not really.” 

“Ugh! Alright, then.” 

Dipper was prepared to argue but was taken aback when he registered Stan's reply. “Wait, that's it? You're not going to argue me on this? Not going to kick her out of the house because she's a Northwest? Or send her home?” 

Stan turned to face him. “Dipper. I may not like the Northwests in the slightest, and that includes Pacifica. But I would never send a runaway home, especially when they have their father's ring imprinted into their face.” 

“Oh, you noticed that, huh.” 

“Only an idiot wouldn't notice that. I mean, saying that she came here to visit you at 4am, a big bag over her shoulder? She can stay here as long as she needs. But I'm not helping her up those bloody stairs. I have trouble enough myself!” 

Dipper grinned, knowing that Stan was just trying to maintain his grouchy front. “Thanks, Grunkle Stan.” 

“Yeah, whatever. Just don't be too much of a bother! You and your sister are hard enough to deal with.” 

“Aww, come on. You know you love us,” he teased as he grabbed the ice and a glass of water. Stan said nothing in reply as Dipper left the room chuckling. 

When he went back into the lounge, Pacifica looked up away from the TV. She had a confused look on her face. 

“What even is this movie?” 

He just shrugged. “I don’t really know. We just sometimes catch Gunkle Stan watching it. He pretends he doesn’t, though.” 

“Seriously?” she said. He had to be joking. 

“Yep. He loves it. It's... really weird, actually. Now come on, let’s get you sorted.” He moved down over to her ankle and pulled bandages out of his kit. “This may hurt a bit.” She gave him a firm nod, ready for him to do it, and then again she gritted her teeth as he wrapped the strips of gauze around. It really hurt having it bound up, but somehow it felt a little better being held into that position. Then he placed the ice pack around it. She tensed up, it was  _so_ cold! She knew it would help, but holy crap! “There, better?” 

“Kinda.” 

“Welp, that’s better than a no. Let’s move onto the cuts and bruises.” 

He grabbed a small red tube from his kit, a glass of water, and a cloth. He started by dipping the cloth in the water and gently dabbing at some of the scratches. Thankfully, she had less than she had thought. But she’d been right about the cut on her leg. Turns out that it was just above her knee, and blood had run all the way down to her ankle. 

“Because this isn't embarrassing or anything,” she muttered as he worked. 

“Huh?” 

“Ugh, nothing. Just... I'm sitting here, injured and useless, and you of all people are cleaning me up.” 

He smiled grimly. “I know what you mean. But hey, it could have been worse.” 

“Really? How?” she said doubtfully. 

“Well, that monster out there could have gotten you.” 

“Oh... Yeah. I suppose there's that.” 

“Do you have any idea what it was?” 

“Nope.” 

“What did it look like? And sound like?” 

Instantly Pacifica began to look uncomfortable. “Umm, I didn't see it, but it sounded like... well, it sounded like my parents. Like they were calling out to me. But I knew it couldn't be them, so I ran. Oh, and I ran into these... little guys with pointy hats. They all seemed petrified of it. One of them said it was going to eat me. But, it sounded just like them. I mean, what sort of creature can do that?” 

“I don't know. I'd have to check the-” 

“Ow!” 

“Sorry!” He'd started applying the ointment to the bruise on her cheek and must have pressed a bit too hard. “This is a really nasty bruise.” 

“Ha,” she chuckled nervously. “Yeah, got hit by a branch.” 

“Well, that branch is an asshole,” he said shortly, moving on to the scratch. “Most of these scratches are shallow, but some are going to need a plaster.” 

Just then they heard movement from the doorway. They both looked up to see a sleepy Mabel rubbing at her eyes. She was wearing an oversized shirt with a floppy disk on the front, and she was dragging a stuffed toy by the leg. That pig of hers was snuffling around at her feet. She blinked when she saw the scene before her. 

“Huh... Pacifica?” 

Pacifica looked at Dipper with a raised eyebrow. He just shrugged in reply. She was only being sarcastic when she'd asked if everyone in his family were going to react like that. “Hi Mabel,” she said. 

“What are you doing here? What happened to you?!” the girl cried. 

“Pacifica ran away from home. She's staying with us for a while,” Dipper told her. 

“Wait, I am?” 

“Yep. Grunkle Stan says it's okay.” 

“Yay!” Mabel whooped, then a confused look came across her face. “But that doesn't explain why you're all bet up.” 

“I was chased by something in the forest. Fell down a few times. Branches are not kind.” 

“If all that's from nature, then why does the bruise on your cheek have an 'N' on it?” 

“What?!” she cried, bringing up a hand to cover the bruise and winced when it made contact. 

Dipper sighed in exasperation. “Subtle, Mabel. Very subtle.” 

“What? You noticed too?” she squeaked, starting to sound a little downtrodden. “Is it really that bad?” 

“No! No,” he soothed. “Well, the bruise is. You can only really notice the 'N' if you look. It will be gone in no time.” 

“So... when you said that the branch was an asshole just before... You knew...” He grimaced and nodded. She hung her head. 

“Hey, Mabel,” he said. “We're going to need a special plaster.” 

“I'm on it!” she called. 

Pacifica looked up at him a little perplexed. “Special plaster? 

“Mabel likes her special band aids. “Most of these are shallow enough that I've fixed them up with liquid plaster. But the one on your knee's going to need something better.” 

“I got it!” Mabel said, standing triumphantly with a bright looking strip of paper held up in the air. “I got the perfect one.” She took the seal wrapping off it to reveal the brightly coloured plaster, then took off the tabs and put it over the freshly cleaned cut on her knee. “Here you earned this.” 

She looked down to see what the plaster was. It reminded her of Mabel's stickers, really. It was bright purple and had the words 'You're Ext-ROAR-dinary' written across it. It was also decorated with a couple of lion faces. 

“H-how did I earn this?” 

“Because of last night at the party. You were amazing and brave. Just like a lion.” 

“Trust me, I wasn't brave. I mean, maybe for that moment, yeah, but... I nearly had a panic attack on the dance floor when I saw how many people had left.” 

“You mean when you were dancing with Dipper,” Mabel said, raising her eyebrows a few times suggestively. 

“Shut up, Mabel,” he said. “Look, Pacifica, I get why you don't feel brave. And that is seriously understandable. Your parents aren't nice people, I mean, look at the way they treat you. But you stood up to them. And even if it was just a little bit, that was something. And it was something to be proud of.” 

She gave him a watery smile, but yet again, it faded, and she looked at her lap. “I ran away,” she said. “That's not brave. I wrote them a letter telling them I couldn't live their toxic life anymore, and I ran away. I'm not brave. And I don't know what I'm doing.” 

“Hey, it's okay,” Dipper told her. “We'll help you figure it out.” 

“Hey, you know what this calls for?” Mabel said. 

“Hot chocolate?” her brother guessed. 

“Hot chocolate. I'll go make some. Ooh! And tomorrow I'll show you the art of using mixed tapes to get over your feelings!” And with that, the quirky girl ran out of the room. 

Despite how horrible Pacifica was feeling, a warm sensation began to spread through her, and another faint smile lit up her face. She was getting more care here than she ever had at home. Despite their differences, the twins really seemed to care for her. They cared about how she felt and how she was treated... She'd never known anyone like that before. And it was even more meaningful due to the fact that she'd treated them like shit... a lot. And yet still they wanted to help her. They cared. 

Perhaps staying with the Pines wasn't such a bad idea after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voila! Lots of cuteness coming up. I actually have that mixtape as a playlist on Spotify.  
> So, who can guess the monster? So far there are a few small hints. I can give you one more: a lot of people have guessed that it is a shapeshifter. It is not a shapeshifter... though it CAN change its form. Hope that helps!  
> Ciao for now!


	4. Cuddles and Potential Blackmail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins call a Code Fluffy to try and make Pacifica feel better. Mabel gains some new blackmail material.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all again!  
> Well, all I have to say about this chapter is that it is pure fluff. Every bit of it. So, I hope you enjoy it!

“Hey, Dipper?” Mabel called out from the kitchen.

“Yeah?” he called back.

“Code Fluffy?”

He looked at Pacifica, staring at her like he was trying to decide something. “Do you want to sleep?” he asked her. Pacifica shrugged in response. “Code Fluffy!” he shouted.

“Okay, you're getting the blankets!”

“I know!” He turned back to Pacifica. “We're going to have to try and get you upstairs.” She groaned at the prospect. There was no way she was going to be able to get up a flight of stairs. “It's okay. You won't even have to put any weight on your foot at all. I'll help you.”

“No offence, but I saw your stairs on the way in and they look tiny.”

“Yeah, they are a bit... Why would that be offensive?”

“Ah... because I kind of think that everything in this house is tiny and dirty.”

“Pfft!” he snorted. “That's because you live in a mansion. And because this place is really old and inhabited by an old man who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'clean'. Now come here, you snob.”

She glared at him for that, but it wasn't as sharp as her usual one, she noticed that his tone seemed teasing. Like... in a nice way, not a nasty way. The way that friends teased each other. The idea of Dipper seeing her as a friend kind of made her feel... warm.

Smiling slightly, she gingerly lifted her foot off the scull table and rested it on the ground. Dipper grabbed her bag and hoisted it onto his back, then offered her a hand. Once he'd helped her to her feet, he stood on the side of her bad foot and ducked his head so that she could put an arm around his shoulder. Even though he was stooped down, she still found that he was a bit tall. She knew that by the end of this, he was going to be as sore as she was... well, almost.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Slowly they began walking, Dipper going as slow and steady as she could, acting as her crutch. She hobbled along beside him, glad that she didn't have to put any weight on her foot. The hopping was already starting to get to her, her feet already sore from running. And she was sure she was putting most of her weight on Dipper. She turned to apologise or something for it, then noticed that he was still practically at her eye level. “Are you still crouching?” she asked incredulously.

“Well, yeah, you're short.”

“Hey!”

He chuckled. “Relax. Why do the really short ones always get so worked up? Height's no big deal I mean, I'm short for my age. Even Mabel's taller than me.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. Well, only by a millimetre, but that's enough for her to claim she's the alpha twin. Doesn't help that she's out going and older than me by five minutes... I'm just crossing my fingers for another growth spurt soon.” She suddenly realised that they'd been standing still since she'd noticed him stooping, and she realised why. They were standing at the base of the stairs. She bit her lip, looking up at the rickety staircase in apprehension. “Hey, it's okay, you can do this,” he told her. “You've got me and the rail. You'll just have to kind of jump I guess.”

She gave him a determined nod and they started up. She relied on Dipper and the rail quite heavily, putting all her weight on them and swinging her way up. They almost fell down a few times, and her arms and leg were horribly tired by the time they got to the top. She felt a bit sorry for Dipper, but he just grinned at her.

“You made it!” he celebrated.

“Your room is way too high up.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Your room is on the fourth floor of your house.”

“Your room is the attic! That's the top of your house!”

“That's not- You know what, never mind. The attic is the best place anyway, apart from maybe Soos's break room. We'll see if he's willing to give it up while you're here. But for tonight it looks like we're having a sleepover in the attic. Now come on, we have to get set up.

“For what? What's Code Fluffy?”

“It's love in a blanket!” Mabel said, skipping up behind them with a tray of hot-drinks and other sweet snacks. She went off ahead of them and they slowly made their way along behind them. It was a good thing that Stan was still up, or all the thumping would have woken him.

“It's our method of making each other feel better,” he explained further as he helped her along to the room. “Our favourite advice is to get a nice drink, some snacks, bundle up in blankets, cuddle something fluffy, and watch a feel good movie. So if either of us are upset or not feeling great, we'll call a Code Fluffy.” As he was saying this, he led her over to a bed and helped sit her down on it.

“Dipper calls them the most. He gets panic attacks,” Mabel said casually.

“Mabel!”

“What?”

“That actually sounds really nice,” she said, stopping them from arguing further.

“It is. And it really works. Of course, it works better with other people. It relaxes you and makes you happier because when you hug someone it releases serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, which-”

“Alright, alright, nerd,” Mabel said. “Just go get the blankets, would ya!” Dipper huffed out a sigh, rolled his eyes, and left the room mumbling under his breath. “Right, down to business,” she said matter of factly. She bounced over to the other bed and picked up a pile of stuffed toys from it. “What one do you want?”

Pacifica blinked at the line up before her in bewilderment. She hadn't cuddled a stuffed toy since she was six. Her mom had thought they were too childish after that. “Um... the... rabbit, I guess.”

“Done. Her name is Daisy.” She handed the white rabbit over to her, a purple felt flower had been stitched on just above one of the ears. Then she began to pick out a few more. “Dipper usually likes Mr Bearington. I'll take Kitty Snufflepants today. And Waddles can have Widdles!”

“Widdles?”

“Yeah!” she cried in delight, holding up a stuffed pig. “He's like Waddles, but he's 'widdle'! Dipper won him for me in a crane game.”

“Oh, okay.” She didn't understand why the pig needed its own toy, but whatever floated the strange girl's boat. She and her brother were being way too nice to her for her to care.

Quickly she she made the decision to divest herself of any uncomfortable clothing while Dipper was out. She unhooked her bra and pulled it out from under her shirt. She also took off her other shoe and sock, but decided that it would be easier to leave her jeans on, rather than painfully struggle to get them off and again struggle to put on her night clothes.

“And now onto the movie,” Mabel cried. She went over to the bed Pacifica was sitting on and pulled a laptop from underneath. It had a blue sticker of a pine tree, just like the one on Dipper's hat. It must be his... which would also make this his bed. That made sense considering the toys, glitter, and Sev'ral Timez posters on the other bed. Mabel tapped a few keys, then frowned. “That's weird.”

“What?”

“His password's changed.”

There came a muffled chuckle and they both turned to see Dipper staggering back into the room under a big pile of blankets and bedrolls. “I was wondering when you were going to notice.” He dumped the pile on the ground near the window.

“When did you change it?”

“Like, three weeks ago or so.”

“Oh... Well, that's good, I guess. Ooh! Hold on, I bet I can guess the new one...” She sat there a moment, her tongue stuck out in thought. Then her eyes widened, a smile creeping over her face, and she quickly typed something in. It instantly logged her in. “Yes!”

“Aww, damn it.”

“How did you  _do_  that?” Pacifica asked in amazement.

“It's easy. Dipper's passwords are things he's obsessed with at the time. It wasn't hard to guess 'journal author'. He's been trying to find clues about him since he found that book.”

“I really need to think of better passwords.”

“At least you change yours. I've the same password for three years now,” Pacifica told him.

“I have to change it. I have a Mabel to attempt to protect it from.” He fluffed up some pillows and blankets, starting to put together a makeshift bed to fit three.

“Never works,” she grinned. “Okay, here's the movies. What do you want to watch. Pick any, Dipper's okay with all of them.”

The man in question shrugged. “I'm not picky.”

“Really? You'll even watch girly chick flicks?”

“I was raised with Mabel. I'm used to them.”

“And he just likes them anyway. He even likes Babba! Oof!” She was knocked over when a pillow hit her square in the head. Dipper grinned smugly.

“Really? Babba's awesome! Have you seen the musical they made that had only their most popular songs? Cheesy as hell to watch, it was good.”

“We've never actually been to see any musicals,” Mabel told her.

“Well, we'll have to change that. You  _have_  to see Wicked! It's not an option.”

“Ooh! I've always wanted to do Wicked as like... a play or something!” Mabel said excitedly. “We should totally put on a performance here! I could be Elphaba, and you could be Glinda! You're blonde! And you can hit all the high notes!”

“And your friendship started out about the same,” Dipper commented.

“Loathing. Unadulterated loathing...” Pacifica sung, her smile faded. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Ah, you know how it is. Water and bridges and all that. Maybe something about ducks? I don't know. I think there should be ducks somewhere in that saying.”

“You're thinking of 'water under the bridge' and 'water off a duck's back', Mabel. Though, if you mixed them together you'd get a pretty interesting malaphor.”

“You mean metaphor.”

“No, I mean malahor. The combining of two or more idioms. You know, like 'we'll burn that bridge when we get to it' instead of 'cross that bridge' and 'burning bridges'.”

“...You're right, he is a nerd,” she said to Mabel.

“Hey!”

“What? I never said it's a bad thing. So what, you're smart.”

“Don't encourage him!” Mabel cried. “His head is already big enough. Literally.”

“Beats me then. My head is tiny. The only reason I can fit half my hats is because my hair is so thick and boofy! Ooh, hey, how about this?” She turned the screen around to show them her selection.

“Diary of a Princess 2. Heck yeah!”

“Sure. I'm in.” He gestured to the blankets. “Also, I've made the bed.” To be honest, it looked more like a giant nest of pillows and blankets. They were a little old looking for her liking, but it did look comfy.

“I call middle!” Mabel shouted, scrambling over. She snuggled down under the top layer of blankets, putting the laptop on her lap.

“Here.”

Dipper held out his hand to her, and once more he helped her walk over to the bed. He sat her down beside Mabel, and she was able to tuck herself in. It would be a close fit for the three of the of them. She wasn't really sure how she felt about that. She wasn't used to it. At her sleep overs, her friends would all get their own double bed. Dipper grabbed the tray of snacks and sat them down beside her, then he took his place on the other side of his sister. As soon as he was settled in, Waddles came trotting over with the stuffed pig in his mouth. With a soft oink, he plopped himself down with his head resting on Dipper's lap. She passed out the hot chocolates, which were somehow still hot, and took a sip of her own. The top was completely coated in melted marshmallow. It was so sweet, but  _really_  good.

“Alright, that's the hot drinks and snacks, the blankets, the fluffy things, and the movie. So, without further ado, let the Code Fluffy commence!” Dramatically she hit the play button and the movie started.

They all smiled and settled back to watch the movie. Pacifica had seen it many times, but it was the kind of movie that you could still watch many times more and still want to watch it again. It was so cute, and Julie Andrews was a goddess!

Their drinks were all gone by the time Mia had intentionally stomped on Nick's foot. But they continued to eat the chocolate and other sweets as the movie went on. Dipper even got up to grab the lollies she'd told him were in her bag. She found herself slowly leaning into Mabel to get a better view. Her eyes were starting to become heavy, and she just gave in, leaning on the girl in something similar to a cuddle. It actually felt... kind of nice. When it got to the scene where the Queen showed Mia her new room, Mabel gasped in wonder, despite how many times she'd already seen it.

“I'm just imagining that that's what your wardrobe is like,” she said. “Is that what your wardrobe is like?”

“Pfft! Don't be ridiculous,” she told her. “I don't have crown jewels in my wardrobe.” Mabel laughed and she smiled in reply. It wasn't quite true, her wardrobe was way smaller than that... though, it was still a rather large walk in wardrobe with mirrors and everything. Still, that was irreverent.

As the movie continued, her eyes grew heavier and heavier. She would catch herself with her eyes closed for too long and jolt herself awake. She finally gave in some time around the engagement slumber party. The last thing she remembered was hearing Julie Andrews and Raven singing together. At one point she was woken up by Mabel laughing at Mia exclaiming that she was a moose, but sleep quickly pulled her back under again. She was exhausted. And this was nice. This was very, very nice...

 

By the time the movie was finished, Mabel was pretty tired. She yawned loudly, giving a stretch. It was a little awkward with the other two leaning on her so heavily. She looked at her brother and new friend to find that they were both asleep. Waddles looked up at her and gave a soft oink.

“Yep, they're totally out to it,” she whispered to him. “Come on, lets get to bed.”

Carefully, she extracted herself from between the two of them. She closed the laptop and put it back under Dippers bed, and cleared away all cups and rubbish. She considered waking up Dipper to get him back in his own bed but decided against it. She knew how hard it was to wake him up, and how he'd react. And considering the fact he'd only just fallen sleep, it was probably best to let him sleep.

Waddles oinked again. “What? It's not like they're cuddling or anything. They're on opposite sides of the nest! They can complain about it in the morning. I'm too tired to deal with Dipper.”

She shuffled over to the lights and flicked them off, before going back over to her bed and curling in. She held on to Kitty Snufflepants, and not long after, Waddles jumped up to his usual spot on the bed. Soon, she was as fast asleep as the other two.

 

* * *

 

 

Mabel groaned as sunlight shone in her face, dragging her out of her wonderful slumber. 

“Ugh, stupid sun!” she grumbled. She rolled over, having to push Waddles back on the other side of the bed, so she didn't fall off, and looked at the clock. 11am. Geez, she'd slept in! Well, she had been up to like, 6am, so it wasn't that bad really. 

Yawning, she jumped out of bed and started gathering her clothes for the day. She was confused by Dippers empty bed for a moment until she remembered that she'd left him down on the floor last night. She looked over towards the nest and had to stifle a giggle. 

Lying curled up in the middle of the nest of pillows, Dipper and Pacifica were snuggled up to each other. Their stuffed animals had been abandoned at some time in the night, as had half the blankets. One of Dipper’s arms was cushioning Pacifica's head, his other was wrapped around her waist. Pacifica seemed even more tangled up than he was. One of her arms was stretched up above his head, her fingers twisted in his curls, the other arm was flung over the arm that was holding her, and her leg had hooked itself up over his waist. 

Huh. Who knew that they were both cuddlers. They... actually looked... kind of cute. 

Silently she grabbed her phone and took a picture of them. “Hehe,” she giggled. “Blackmail.” 

Then quietly as she could, she snuck out. Those two deserved their sleep. 

    
  

Pacifica had been drifting in and out of dreams for a while. Strange dreams that she couldn't recall. And she was too tired to remember any of the moments shed woken up either. This time she blinked at the hazy light around her. Morning. 

There was something in front of her, a pink and brown blur. And she was holding onto something. What was that strange shape in front of her? She blinked a few more times, trying to focus. 

“Dipper?” she mumbled. 

“Mmm,” he replied, still half asleep. 

“No, dipper. On your head.” Lazily, her hand attempted to point, but it didn't really move far before flopping back around his body, her eyes drifting shut again. 

“Yeah. Wait, what?” His eyes flew open, and he looked about cautiously. No one else was in the room. Just him and Pacifica... cuddling. “Uhh...” He looked back down at the girl in his arms. She seemed to have fallen asleep again. 

Hmm... she looked rather cute when she was sleeping. No! No, he was not having any thoughts along those lines when they were cuddling like – like, well, a couple. Nope! 

Carefully he began to extract himself from their human tangle, taking her arm from around him and gently placing it in close to her body. She muttered something when he tried to de-tangle their legs, but when he looked up at her, he found she was still asleep. 

Once he was free he let out a sigh of relief, then he grabbed his clothes for the day and his hat and went off to have a shower. Erm... he better make that a cold one. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I didn't think this much would take up an entire chapter. But oh well, just means there'll be more chapters later.  
> Also, Code Fluffy is a real thing for me. I do this often when I feel down, usually watching Disney films and cuddling my partner or best friend. It's always my advice for people who aren't having a good day. And I always get told that it made them feel a little better. So, if you ever feel horrible or anxious, Code Fluffy. It works.  
> Also, nests are great. Me and my friend make these outside in summer on my veranda, usually with candles and fairy lights.  
> Anyway, that's all for now. Bye!


	5. Breakfast and Butlers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins make Pacifica a very yummy breakfast and find out just how horrible her parents can be. And Murphy stops by to give his... 'approval'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloo!!!  
> Wow, 5 chapters in less than a month. I can literally FEEL the Doctor Who fans getting annoyed at me. I don't know, this fandom is very insistent right now, and the muse is singing something fierce. She's duplicated herself into a choir and is following me around so I can't sleep.  
> Anyway, without any of my early morning rambles... not much in this chapter, still cute as hell. And to think I'm barely into the plotline.  
> But besides the babbling, I bring you beautiful tales of bizarre teens being brilliant... Behold!

When Pacifica awoke, it was the calmest, gentlest waking she could remember. A soft, hazy light was filtering in through the old rustic window, lighting up the dust-motes. Birds chirping could be heard faintly in the background, along with the chattering river, swooshing trees, and other sounds of nature. It wasn't an intrusive sound, it was soft. Calming. 

She lay there contentedly, letting awareness slowly come to her. Hold on... that wasn't her roof. She sat bolt upright, wincing in pain as her foot moved the wrong way. She was lying on a giant pile of pillows in the Pines twins room. It didn't take long for her to recall the events of last night. 

She would have thought that it would shatter the calm, but it didn't. It made her a little sadder, but the room was just as peaceful as before. Maybe it was stopping her from feeling worse. There was just something about the atmosphere that was so tranquil it was hard to feel another way. 

Looking around, she saw that her things had been dragged closer to the bed. There was also a crutch that had been painted bright colours and decorated with stickers, and a folded up piece of paper. She grabbed the paper, unfolding it to see that it was a note. 

    
  

 _Hey,_ _Pacifica!_    

 _We didn't want to wake you. After last night we thought you would need the rest. But we brought your things closer so you can reach them. Oh! And_ _Grunkle_ _Stan found an old crutch for you to use! It was a little boring, so I added a bit of the Mabel Touch. (Dipper didn't think it needed it, so I gave him the Mabel Touch too. Now he's in the shower. Ha!)_  

 _Oh, speaking of showers, we figured you'd probably want one after all that running around and falling in the dirt last night. It's on the floor below, second door to the left once you get off the stairs. (I drew you a map below). You can use my stuff. Not hard to guess which they are, everything else has 'For Men' all over it. *rolls eyes* Go nuts, take your time. The water should be hot. We'll be in the kitchen when you're done._  

 _\- Mabel!_  

    
  

Just below the note was a crudely drawn map of the upper floor of their house. A stick-figure with blonde hair, a rainbow crutch, a bandaged up foot, and way too big of a smile for how she was feeling had been drawn on the stairs from the attic. The entire thing had been done in a pink glitter gel pen. 

If Pacifica hadn't witnessed how wise and mature Mabel could be, she would have thought she was mentally stuck at 12. But still, she was too sweet. Too sweet for how she had ever treated her. 

Sighing, she put the note in her pocket and grabbed the two other items from the ground. The crutch made it so much easier to get up than if she'd been attempting without it. She slung the bag over one shoulder and positioned the crutch under the other. Slowly, she started off on the journey. The bag thumped into her back with every swing, which was rather annoying. And the stairs were a little difficult, but soon she got the hang of it. It was much easier than having to use a guy who was on the higher end of five foot tall. 

She ended up finding the bathroom without having to look at Mabel's map again. As soon as she was in, she dumped the bag and looked about. It was about as filthy as – if not more than – the rest of the house. It was a small room with everything in it. A toilet in the corner, a sink and vanity on the wall, and a shower-bath combo. At least the shower head was detachable. 

Before she jumped in the shower, she took care of some urgent business. Then she began to peel away the layers of her clothes. 

They were covered in dirt and grass stains and had the faint smell of sweat. Okay, that was gross. Usually, when she went running she would change out of her gear as soon as she'd cooled down, then it would go straight in the wash. She had to take off her shorts as carefully as she could, trying not to disturb her ankle. It seemed that jeans shorts weren't the best thing to run away in. The denim was stiff and uncomfortable. It was hard to get off easily, and sleeping in it had left big red imprints in her skin. She had to sit on the toilet seat to get them off properly. She took the bandage off her ankle off too while she was there. It wasn't the sort of thing to go in water. 

Holding onto whatever she could, she carefully made her way into the tub. She made sure to put down the bath mat. She was already at risk of falling over  _without_ a slippery floor. It was a little hard to stand in the tub, but thankfully there was a rail that she could use to hold herself up. 

She turned on the water and jolted away. It was freezing cold. She was used to the water warming up in a matter of seconds, but it took a good minute. Then she had to take a further minute to try and get the temperature right, the taps were so temperamental. If she nudged it even the tiniest bit one way, it would swing between burning hot and ice cold. Finally, she managed to get it to a temperature she found tolerable. It was slightly hotter than she would have liked, but she had the feeling it was the best she was going to get. And it was a good thing that the shower head was detachable because the pressure was terrible! It was going to be a mission trying to get the conditioner out of her hair, it was thick enough without the lack of water. 

    
  

She emerged from the shower half an hour later. It was a long shower for her, but it was necessary to rinse off properly. She smelled like Mabel's products, which were... actually really nice. She was a little frustrated by the workings of the shower, but she still felt pretty good, considering it was still a nice hot shower. 

Awkwardly, she dried off and attempted to get changed. Thankfully the change of clothes she had with her was a dress. She didn't bother putting the tights on, trying to get her underwear on was annoying enough. She also attempted to re-bandage her ankle, but she wasn't very good at it. She didn't even bother putting on makeup today. She wasn't in the mood. 

Rummaging through her bag, she found her phones. Both had messages. She checked Murphy's phone first. 

' _Have you found a place to stay for the next few weeks?'_  

 _'Yeah. The Pines are letting me stay with them at the Mystery Shack. They're really nice. =)'_  She replied. Then she checked her other phone, finding four messages from Tiffany and one from Aubrey. 

' _So r we_ _gona_ _talk now?'_  

 _'Paz?'_  

 _'Hey, u beta not b dead'_  

 _'If_ _ur_ _dead,_ _im_ _killin_ _you!'_  

 _'Hey, Paz._ _Tif_ _said u ran away. Bit stupid. Can u text her?_ _Shes_ _getting worried.'_  

Pacifica sighed heavily. She wasn't in the mood for this. She didn't need to be brought down for doing something for herself. For her own mental stability. Still, she couldn't let them panic. 

 _'Calm down,_ _Tif_ _. I just woke up. Didn't sleep until like 5am. I'm somewhere safe, but not in the mood to talk now. Chat later. Tell Bree I'm ok.'_  

She balked when she saw the time. It was almost 1pm! 

Finally, she grabbed her things and hobbled out. She decided to leave her bag at the top of the stairs. As she made her way into the kitchen, she was met by a delectable smell and the sight of Mabel at the stove. Dipper was sitting at the table, coffee mug in hand as he flicked through his journal. They both looked up and smiled as she entered. 

“Hey, she made it,” Dipper teased. “How's the crutch?” 

“Much easier,” she said, heading over to the table. Quickly Dipper got up and pulled a chair out for her, before sitting back down. “Thanks.” 

“Do you like the new look?” Mabel asked excitedly. 

“It's very pretty, Mabel,” she reassured her. It wasn't something she'd normally go for, but it had been painted in a very cool pattern. 

“I had to dry it with a hair-dryer, so it wasn't wet when you woke up. Also, ta-da!” She placed three large plates of pancakes on the table, shuffling one, so it was right before her. “We made pancakes! It seemed like a pancakes kind of day. We waited till we heard you turn the shower off. That sounds kind of creepy, but Dipper was keeping an ear out in case you slipped or something.” 

Since they had been placed down in front of her, Pacifica's eyes hadn't moved from the plate. She heard what Mabel was saying, but something in her seemed to break. Something in her chest felt as if it were melting, and she felt like the world was spinning around her. She was so stunned by everything they were doing for her that it had her frozen in place, her heart beating frantically. 

It was like the two were a concentrated bundle of care, and she'd been so horrible to them for so long. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve the kindness they were giving her, and yet they gave it to her freely. 

She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and before she could stop it, a sob broke through her lips. No, no, no! She didn't want to cry. But she couldn't help it. She was just so overwhelmed. They were just so nice, and the idea that anyone would do all this for her was mind-boggling. She was used to being given things all the time. But this was different. They actually  _cared_. They... 

The twins looked at her in shock, starting to become panicked as they looked at each other. They didn't know what to do, they didn't even know what had set her off. They were just pancakes! They didn't mean to make her cry! 

Stan came into the room, paused a moment, taking in the scene before him, then walked right back out. 

Pacifica continued to cry, covering her mouth and nose with her hands as she attempted to calm herself down. 

“I'm sorry!” Mabel cried. “I didn't mean to...” 

“What's wrong?” Dipper asked, completely confused. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” she sobbed. “That's just it. You guys are so nice and kind, and amazing. And you've done all this nice stuff for me. And I treated you like shit. And I don't deserve it, and-” The words came tumbling out of her mouth in a fast-paced incoherent babble. She stopped when Mabel suddenly threw her arms around her shoulders and Dipper began to speak. 

“Hey, hey. Stop. Breathe...” he tried to soothe her. He waited for her to drag in a trembling breath before he continued. “What you don't deserve is crummy parents, but you have them. Seriously, your father's an asshole. And we're just trying to make you feel a bit better. That's what friends do, right?” 

She gave them a watery smile. “Friends?” 

“Well, yeah,” Mabel said as if it were obvious. She pulled back slightly. “Wait, you do want to be friends, right?” 

“Yeah,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Yeah, I'd like that.” 

“Yay!” Mabel cried, throwing her arms in the air, only to throw them back around her neck again. 

“Well, that's good, 'cause- What the  _hell_  did you do to your bandage?! Give that thing here.” He shuffled his chair closer and held his hands out. She rolled her eyes and put her foot up on his lap, and he began to redo the bandages. 

“I'm sorry, though,” she said. “About the way, I treated you and all the things I said.” 

Now it was Dipper's turn to roll his eyes. “Pacifica, shut up and eat your pancakes.” 

“No, but seriously. You guys are so nice and sweet, and fun, and totally not lame at all. Well, maybe a little lame, but-” 

“Pancakes.” 

“But-” 

“I think what Dipping Sauce is trying to say,” Mabel cut in, “is that we forgive you. Now eat your damn pancakes!” 

“Okay, okay, I will,” she chuckled. She looked at the plate and toppings before her, and her face fell to one of confusion. “Um... how do I do the toppings?” 

“What do you mean?” Mabel asked. “It's syrup. You just squirt it over the whole thing and go for it.” 

“How much should I use?” 

Dipper snorted. “What, have you never had syrup on your pancakes before or something?” 

She shook her head. “Not really.” 

“ _What_?!” both twins cried aghast. 

“When we  _do_  have pancakes, we use lemon juice and a fine sprinkling of powdered sugar. Mom doesn't let me have syrup because there's too much sugar in it, and sugar turns into fat and pimples, so...” 

“Wait! Are you telling me that your mom limits your sugar?!” Mabel cried in horror. 

“Well, yeah. I mean, I'm already fat enough, so-” 

“Stop,” Dipper said. “You are  _not_  fat. You're skinny as anything! Why the hell would you think that?” 

Pacifica looked down. “W-well, Mom says that I'm getting fat and need to lose weight.” 

Dipper scowled. “I hate your family.” Her eyes widened in shock at his statement, though she understood why he did. She would hate them too if she could. “Trust me, you're not fat. The only  _large_  part of you is... well, um... you've got...” A blush spread across his cheeks, and he gestured vaguely towards her. She raised a questioning eyebrow. 

“You've got big boobs,” Mabel finished for him. Instantly Pacific’s cheeks were just as red as Dipper's. “You've got one of those hourglass-y figures. It looks really pretty.” 

She smiled weakly. “Thanks, Mabel.” 

“Okay, done with the ankle,” he said. “I know it was just a minor sprain, but we should ice it again, just to be sure.” 

“Yes Doctor Dipper,” she said sarcastically. “Seriously, you're really good at this patching up thing. You really could be a doctor.” 

“Well, he already has his First Aid licence. He can do CPR and everything. Even reverse CPR.” She wagged her eyebrows at him, and he glared. 

“Shut up, Mabel!” She just laughed at him. “Anyway, I was going to tell you. We talked to Soos this morning. He's more than happy to let you sleep in his break room. It was originally a bedroom, so there's still a bed in there. And it's big, so yeah. You don't have to sleep on the floor again.” 

“But where's Soos going to go for his break?” Mabel asked. “We can't let him go back to his old one. That thing’s a safety hazard. Literally.” 

“He said he'd set up in the old wax museum room. Something about talking to Larry King, I don't know.” Mabel was just about to say something when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. “I'll get it.” He sighed as he stood and walked through to the front of the house. He swung the door open to reveal a man who looked to be in his late 50's, dressed in a fine suit. He seemed very posh and slightly familiar. “Um, can I help you?” he said uncertainly. 

“Is Miss Pacifica here?” the man asked. 

Dipper instantly went on alert. They were already looking for her? He couldn't let anyone find her, or they'd take her back to those monsters she called parents. And there was no way in hell he was going to let that happen. 

“Pacifica?” he said. “As in Pacifica Northwest? What would she be doing here? Pfft, what would  _anyone_  like her be doing here? Have you seen this place?” 

“So, Miss Pacifica is  _not_  here?” 

“Nope. Wrong place, sorry buddy.” 

“Dipper, wait!” the girl in question's voice rung out. Dipper cringed. Damn it! 

“Not here, eh?” 

“Heh, um...” He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. 

He became aware of the sound of Pacifica hobbling over on her crutch. “That's Murphy. He helped me escape last night.” She got to the door and gave her butler a wide grin. His eyes widened when he saw the state she was in, and he shot her a disapproving look. “What?” 

“You said you'd made it somewhere safe. Look at the state you're in! That doesn't look safe to me.” 

“I said I'd made it somewhere  _safe_. As in the place. Getting here, well, I may have tripped a few times...” 

Murphy shook his head in exasperation. “I've brought your things, as requested.” 

“Thanks, Murphy.” 

“Things?” Dipper questioned. 

“Yeah. I packed some bags last night and asked Murphy to drop them to me when I'd found somewhere to stay. I mean, did you really think I only took a tiny bag to run away? I need at least two weeks to let things settle down, two outfits are not going to last that long.” 

“Fair point,” he conceded. “Um, want some help? I can show you to the room she's staying in?” 

“That would be most helpful, Mr Pines.” With a nod, Dipper followed him over to a posh car where the butler proceeded to pull out five large suitcases. 

“Two weeks, huh?” he said in awe. “Sure you're not planning on staying for a year? I bought less with me to cover three months!” 

“You can never be too prepared!” she called from back at the doorway. 

He rolled his eyes and picked up two of the bags. He watched in amazement as Murphy picked up the other three as if it were no issue “Whoa, alright then, this way.” Dragging the heavy bags with him, he led the man into the house and round the corner to where her room must be. 

“I don't know why he's surprised by how many bags you have,” Mabel said, her mouth half full of pancake. “This  _is_  you we're talking about.” 

“What's that supposed to mean?” She put her free hand on her hip. 

“You have lots of pretty clothes. I'd bring that many bags if I had clothes like yours.” 

“Oh, um, thanks.” 

“No problem. I mean, I have an entire case of just sweaters. By the time summer's over, I'll probably need another bag.” 

“Why's that?” 

“Because I've made so much since I got here.” 

“Wait, you  _made_  all those yourself?” 

“Yep! Well, apart from the one with a shooting star on it. Dipper got me that one for our birthday last year.” 

She smiled at that. “It must be weird sharing a birthday.” 

“Nah, it's great!” 

“Honestly, you two work so well together. I mean, you're so different, but you're completely in sync. I can't even imagine having a sibling, let alone a twin.” 

“Well, all your bags are in your room, Pacifica,” Dipper said, walking back in before Mabel could say anything else. She was starting to look a little put out by all the interruptions. 

“And now I must head back,” Murphy said. “Your parents will be expecting me for other duties.” 

“Yeah, I know,” she said, slightly sad that he was going already. It was then that Stan decided to come back. He frowned seeing the man at his door. 

“Hey, you,” he called. “Gift shop is on the other side of the shack.” 

“Grunkle Stan, he's Pacifica's butler. He's dropping her things off,” Dipper explained. 

“Oh... fine then. Does that mean we get a butler while she's here?” 

Mabel laughed. “No, he has to go back.” 

“Damn.” 

“Oh, and Pacifica,” Murphy said, “I would recommend turning off your phone and taking the sim card out soon so that your parents can't trace it.” 

At that Stan let out a harsh laugh. “Tracing phones? No need to worry about that. Nothing can be traced in a fifty-yard radius of the shack. It would take one hell of a strong signal to break through that.” 

Murphy looked at Stan out of the corner of his eye, then bent down so only Pacifica could hear him “Are you sure you trust these people?” 

“Yeah.” She gave him a wide grin. “I mean, Mr Pines seems nice so far. And Dipper and Mabel are great. They've been taking care of me. And Mabel painted up this crutch.” He rose a sceptical eyebrow. “Trust me. I'm going to be fine here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if she has considered the saying 'famous last words'.  
> Doing the title for this was fun. I love alliteration. And I kept thinking of more. Breakfast, butler, banter, befuddlement, bawling, backing-away, bliss, bedazzled, bathroom, buddies, befriending, belittled, bequeathing, boobs, beguile, blush, berate, bedroom, breakroom, blonde... um, I could probably go on for an hour with words beginning with B.  
> And on that note, bye bye!!!


	6. Eyeballs and Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team discusses Pacifica's finances, Dipper does something _very_ sweet, and Pacifica has a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> It was about this time that I planned a sequel AND a spin off for this fic, called 'No Place like Home' and 'Dark Side of Home' respectively. Still plan to do them, though I have no idea how long that will take.  
> Looks like I'm in for a LOT of work. Anywho! Enjoy!

“You're kidding, right?” Pacifica said in disbelief. 

“Nope.” Dipper flipped through a book with a look of utter boredom. 

“You're really serious?” 

“Yep.” Mabel grabbed an eyeball from a jar, sat down next to her and started bouncing it against the floor and wall, then catching it again. 

“Your uncle really makes you work in his shop over the holidays.” 

“Yeah,” said the ginger girl, Wendy. “Well, I'm actually here voluntarily... for money. College is expensive... And I am totally empathising with the wrong person here.” 

“Hey! I'm not that bad. Just because I have money doesn't mean I don't understand that other people are struggling with it. You forget that my dad likes to hold that over other people.” 

“Oh, we haven't forgotten. It's kind of hard to.” 

“Shut it, Pines,” she smirked. “I get it. I'm rich. Haha.” 

“Do you think your parents will cut you off or something when they find out you're gone?” Mabel asked. 

“They can't.” She caught the eyeball Mabel was bouncing when it flew out towards her. She swivelled around and tossed it to her. 

“Why not?” She tossed it back. 

“Well, they cut off my credit cards, but my bank account isn't connected to theirs anymore. They used to be able to suspend it so I couldn't use my money. And I couldn't access it either. So one day I got the forms to separate my account and forged their signatures. Got in a heck of a lot of trouble, but now all they can do is stop sending me my allowance.” The game of toss seemed to have evolved into bounce and catch. “Which is kind of pointless, because I have enough saved up that I could probably afford to live on my own if I wanted to.” 

“Then why don't you?” Wendy asked. 

“Everyone always talks leaving your family when they're... not all that great. But it's not as easy as it sounds. I mean, if I cut off my family, it's not just Mom and Dad. I'd incur the wrath of my  _whole_  family. And I love my gran too much. And I have younger cousins who adore me, and I could never leave them. It's not-” She flinched as a customer entered the gift shop. 

“Are you okay?” Wendy asked, confused about what had made her flinch like that. 

“What? Yeah, I'm fine.” As she had winced, she'd missed the eyeball, and it bounced past her. Mabel got up and chased after it. 

“So, we can leave in ten minutes. Want help setting your room?” 

“I've got a lot of stuff. You sure you're up for the job?” 

“More than you are,” Mabel said. “I can actually move.” Pacifica went to shoot her a glare but ended up flinching again as a jingling signalled yet another person entering. “What happened? Did you get a splinter? They happen a lot here.” 

She just grimaced, trying to shrug it off, and Dipper looked over at the door where a bell was still gently rocking above it. The bell. Realisation hit him, and he began looking about for their handyman. He spotted Soos near the vending machine and quietly made his way over. 

“Hey, Soos, can you do me a favour?” 

“Sure, what's up, dude?” 

“Well, Pacifica has this thing about bells,” he said so that the others couldn't hear them. “Her father used one to kind of control her and she gets- um, jumpy every time she hears it. Could you maybe, like, take it down?” 

“Not a problem, dude. I don't think Mr Pines will be too happy, but I know just the thing to replace it. Only, ah, I can't get it until tomorrow.” 

“That's okay. We're leaving in a few minutes anyway.” 

“Great. By tomorrow there will be a new not-bell.” 

“Thanks, man.” 

“Hey, it's no problem, bro. It's real sweet how you two are looking after Pacifica.” 

“Yeah, well, she needs it right now.” 

“Hey, Dipper!” Mabel called. “Pacifica and me are going to sort out her room. Can you stay the last few minutes and cover in case Grunkle Stan comes?” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

“Yes! Come on!” She helped Pacifica to her feet before dashing out ahead. Pacifica was still slowly making her way out when she popped her head back through the door. “Oh, your room's this way. I should probably wait for you, shouldn't I?” 

“That would be nice, yeah,” Pacifica said sarcastically. Mabel slowed down and waited – somewhat – patiently for her to catch up before walking beside her and showing her the way to the room. Of course, Mabel was still impatient enough that as soon as the room was in view, she charged ahead. 

She was glad that her room was only on the second floor. Sure, the stairs were still horrible, but at least there were less of them. When she got there, Mabel was sitting on the bed, tossing the eyeball between her hands. Her bags were nicely stacked in the corner, and she saw that Murphy had even brought some fresh bedding and her favourite purple pillow. There was already a lot of things in this room, looking old and unused like someone had left a whole bunch of stuff behind. There was a single bed in one corner, and along one wall there was a set of low filing cabinets. 

“Who's is all this stuff?” she said, flipping through a calendar that hadn't been changed since July 1982. 

“Don't know. It was all in here when we found this room.” 

“Found it?” 

“Yeah, this room was sealed off, hidden by a bookshelf.” 

“Why on earth would it be hidden? This is your uncle's house, isn't it? Should you trust a secret room? I found one in my house the other night, and it was full of things that my family had been covering up for decades. This room wasn't hiding anything, was it?” 

“Well, there  _was_  a carpet that body-swapped people with static electricity, but that's gone now. It wasn't really being hidden, and I don't think Grunkle Stan even knew about it. Besides, this hasn't been the first hidden room we've found. Once Stan locked a bunch of wax figures in the other room and wallpapered over the door. And he didn't even know that the wax figures could come to life at night and were planning on killing him!” Pacifica blinked in shock and confusion. “We don't really know why he does anything. It's best not to question these things.” 

She rose an eyebrow. “That sounds like the sort of thing you  _should_  question.” She sat down next to her bags. 

“Well, we used to,” Mabel went on. “But he always changed the subject or gave a lame answer. We just kind of gave up after a while. I mean, it kind of makes sense. He's a bit of a dodgy person, but we trust him. He's our Grunkle.” 

“Um. How 'dodgy'?” 

“Oh, you know, smuggling, money forgery, tax fraud. Just little things like that.” 

“...Right,” she said, stretching the word out. Mabel did know that those weren't 'little things', right? In fact, just one of them was enough to get him put away for a very long time. Shaking her head and wondering what she'd gotten herself into by coming here, she opened one of the bags and began to sort things. 

“Hey, how about you chuck me stuff and I'll put it away for you? That way you don't have to move about.” 

“Great, you can start with this.” She bundled up the duvet and threw it at her. Mabel managed to half catch it, part of it landing in her arms and the rest falling on top of her. She pulled it off of her head just in time to get hit by a flying purple pillow. 

“Oof! Hey!” 

“Now this looks like fun,” Dipper quipped, entering the room. “Got another pillow?” 

“Alas, I am all out,” she said dramatically. “Though, I do have a makeup box if you want.” From the bag she pulled out a metal case that took up most of the space, from the way it clattered, he could tell that it was  _very_  full. 

“Um, I think I'll pass. Don't get me wrong, I love throwing things at my sister, but that may be going a little overboard.” 

“Suit yourself, Mabel, catch!” She went to toss it but thought better of it. 

“I'm open,” Mabel said, her arms outstretched. “...What's wrong.” 

“Well, I don't really want to throw it. This has a few thousand dollars worth of makeup in it, and I don't want to ruin any. I could smash the mirrors, or break up the pigments in the palates.” 

“A few thousand?! How the hell can you have that much makeup!” 

She scowled at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. “Hey! Makeup is flipping expensive, okay! Especially special effects makeup! ...What? I kind of want to be a makeup artist. It's fun. It's like having art on your face. I always look the best on Summerween. Last time I went as Le Muerte from 'El Libro de la Vida'.” 

“Ooh! We can have makeovers!!!” Mabel squealed. 

“Here,” Dipper said, rolling his eyes and grabbing the case from her. “Where do you want me to put it?” 

“Um, just beside the bed. Like, in between the draws and the side table.” 

He placed it down where she asked and came back for another item. When Mabel was done making the bed for her, she joined in. They worked this way for a while, with Pacifica sorting her things and telling the twins where to put them. They laughed and joked the entire time, mostly making jokes about her being a pampered rich girl. But she didn't mind it so much. They were right after all. 

As they stored things away, they came across a lot more things that had been left behind. Draws had been half cleaned out, boxes were in the bottom of the closet along with a few coats. But eventually, by the time it was dark, they had managed to find homes for practically everything in all five of her bags. Most of it had been clothes, after all. 

“Whew, that took longer than I thought,” Dipper said. “I'll say it again, this is  _not_  two weeks worth of stuff.” 

“Says the guy who's been wearing the same shirt four days in a row,” she muttered. “I prefer to wear something new and clean every day.” 

“Yeah, clean and expensive.” 

“Hey, you would have expensive clothes if you had the money, and don't even  _try_  to deny it.” 

Scoffing, he walked over and helped her to her feet. “Nope. I honestly can't justify spending more than ten dollars on a shirt.” 

“That's because you can't conceive having enough money to not care that it's more than ten dollars. And because you're a guy.” 

“What's that got to do with anything?” 

“Because girls clothes are  _really_  expensive, doi!” Mabel said, whacking him upside the head as she passed by out into the hall. “If I had money, I'd get a human-sized hamster ball!” 

“And a lifetime supply of wool?” she guessed. 

“Oh, yes! That too!” She just laughed as the girl excitedly ran for the stairs.

 

* * *

 

Not long later, they were down in the living room eating dinner. Each person was sitting down with a box of fries and a hotdog, laughing at reruns of Ker-Prank'd. It seemed so surreal to her. Back at home, food was only to be eaten at the dining table. There wasn't even a TV in the dining room because watching TV while you ate was unthinkable. She decided that she liked this a lot better. It seemed closer, less awkward. 

Stan was sitting on the couch, and the three teens were all sitting on the ground, Pacifica resting her back against the skull table. Suddenly another sound rose up. 

 _Duuun_ _-dun_. 

At first, they looked at the TV in confusion, but the tune didn't seem to be part of the show. 

 _Duuun_ _-dun_. 

They looked about for the sound. Pacifica was sitting there, stiff as a board and suddenly very pale. 

 _Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. BOM! BOM!_  

“Is that... Shark Jaws?” Dipper said in confusion. 

 _Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun._  

“What? Is something after us?” Mabel said, looking about for the source of the sound still. “Is it a shark?” 

 _Doo-_ _dedoo_ _-doo-_ _dedoo_ _-_ _dede_  

“No,” Pacifica gulped. “It's my parents.” 

 _Doo-_ _dede_ _-doo-_ _dededoo_ _!_  

“Ahh!” they all screamed. 

She took the phone out of her pocket, looking at the caller ID in fear. The others were all looking at it just as terrified, though probably for a different reason. The ringtone started to repeat, but only got past the first few notes before the call ended. 

“Who the hell has ringtone like that? You trying to scare the crap out of everybody?” Stan said, his hand pressed to his heart. She was about to tell him that Aubrey had changed the ringtone as a joke, but was distracted by a text alert. 

' _Pacifica Elise! Answer your phone this instant!'_  was what her father had sent. 

The phone began ringing again. She just stared at the phone in terror. She gripped it so hard that her knuckles started turning white. Her stomach churned with many different kinds of fears. Indecision had her frozen in place. If she answered, she'd have to talk to her parents, and she knew how that would go. But what if she didn't? If she didn't do what they wanted something worse would happen. The phone stopped ringing and bleeped again. 

' _Get your ass home right now, you selfish bitch. Your mother is panicked sick. You are our child, and you belong under our roof. Pick up your phone!'_  

Her hands began to tremble, her breathing shaky. Her heart hammered in her chest, only to beat harder when the ringtone started up again. She was shocked when the phone was taken from her hands. She looked over to see Dipper with it. 

“No! Don't!” 

“Don't worry, I'm not going to answer it,” he calmed her. He pressed the top button down till the ringing stopped and the light went off. “There. It's off. Now they can't bother you. You have the other one, you don't have to turn this one on for as long as you want. You don't have to deal with them, okay. That's the reason why you left.” 

She nodded numbly, and he handed her back the phone. “I'd like to go to bed now, please.” 

“What?! But it's only 9:30!” Mabel cried. 

“Yeah, sure,” Dipper said softly, ignoring his sister. “Need any help?” 

“I-I got it.” She gave him a weak smile as she hoisted herself up. “Night.” 

“Night,” the three of them chorused. 

    
  

She hobbled her way upstairs once more. It seemed to be getting easier the more she did it. Once she was in her room, she got changed into the pajamas she'd left at the end of the bed. The purple camisole was easy to put on, though she struggled a little with the pink silk boxer shorts that were covered in purple and blue flowers. She had a nightdress, but she was a sucker for favourite outfits. She was about to remove her makeup when she remembered she hadn't put any on today. So instead she divided her hair in half and plated each half into loose plated pigtails that hung over her shoulders. Then she went and turned the light off. 

It was when she was climbing into the bed that she noticed for the first time that there was something else on it. Picking up the fluffy object, she took a closer look to see Daisy the Rabbit. This brought a smile to her face. Mabel must have put it there at some point. 

She snuggled in. The bed was small and uncomfortable, but having her own sheets made her feel a little better. At least they were soft, even if the bed wasn't. It may have been a mistake going to sleep that early. She wasn't tired yet, and it gave her mind time to fret over things she'd rather not think about. 

Grabbing her new phone from the bedside table, she began to check it out. She'd put Tiffany and Aubrey's numbers in there, but was yet to actually message them. And Mabel and Dipper had put their own numbers in when they were unpacking the room. Along with the numbers of Stan, Soos, and Wendy. She had no idea why she'd need the numbers, but she kept them anyway. There wasn't an actual reason to delete them other than spite, which she didn't really hold any. 

She hadn't checked any social media since the other day and really wanted to, only she didn't know the wifi password... or if Stan even had wifi. A lot of the stuff in the shack looked really old. In the end, she went to her apps and looked through them, trying each one out. She ended up playing a snake game for an hour, and a block puzzle game for another half hour. And eventually, her eyelids began to grow heavy. 

Soon, she was asleep, the phone still beside her on the pillow.

 

* * *

 

 _The waters were still and calm. All was silent. Back by the cliffs, water plunged down into the lake, but still not a sound could be heard. Not the water, not the trees, not the birds, or the wind. All was silent._  

 _The forest was silent. The trees that reached up into the sky swayed, still without a sound. The trees grew all around her. They grew up from the ground, their branches grasping as though desperate to escape. They continued to rise up all around her, their mouths open in horror and, eyes blank and lifeless._  

 _Not trees._  

 _People._  

 _People frozen into wood._  

 _It wasn't just the party guests this time. It was everyone. Everyone in the entire town. They were all dead. She felt sick._  

“ _You could have stopped this,” Dipper hissed. He ripped his wooden legs away from their roots and stormed towards her, an angry scowl on his face._  

“ _We tried to give you a chance,” Mabel said, joining her brother, “but you'll never change.”_  

“ _I was right. You're just another link in the world's worst chain.”_  

“ _And you can't even be that.” Her father stood before her, wooden like all the others. “A link in the chain. The weak link. Too weak to be a Northwest.”_  

“ _Trying to be nice to us. Trying to change. You're just lying. Lying to us and lying to yourself,” Dipper sneered. “And one day you're going to drown in those lies.”_  

“ _Or a better idea. Why don't you just drown now.”_  

 _Dipper and her father grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her down. Suddenly she was in the lake. She was under the water, being held down. She tried to escape, tried to scream, but they clung to her. Their wooden hands dug into her like claws. They dragged her down and they all sunk deeper into the dark waters._  

 _She thrashed._  

 _She screamed._  

 _She watched the bubbles rise._  

 _She looked into the white eyes of her attackers._  

“ _You're ours now, Pacifica!”_  

“ _Pacifica!”_  

“ _Pacifica!”_  

    
  

“Pacifica!” 

“Ahhhh!” she bolted upright, struggling against the hands that held her. 

“Ow! Ow! Stop! Pacifica, calm down! It was just a nightmare!” 

She paused a moment and actually looked. She wasn't drowning in the lake. She was in a dark room. The moon shone through the window like a large white eye, illuminating a figure before her. Dipper. A Dipper that was real and soft and warm and most certainly not wood. And also shirtless. 

“D-Dipper?” 

“Yeah. You okay? Seemed like some nightmare.” 

When she spoke, her voice trembled. “Everyone was wood again and I w-was drowning, and-” 

“Hey, hey. It's okay. It's over. It wasn't real.” 

“Yes, it was.” She summoned a little more courage knowing that it wasn't happening now, her voice becoming stronger. “It happened just the other night. Everyone turned to wood, Dipper, even you. And that was my fault.” 

“No, it wasn't. You saved us. You saved everyone. You are not your family. Don't ever forget that. Got it?” 

She nodded. His words were such a contrast to his words in her dream, and it made her feel... good. It made her feel really good. And so did his nice warm hands still holding her shoulders. She could feel the heat radiating off him, he was so close... 

Oh, she hadn't realised how close he was. He was sitting on her bed, so near to her that if she only leaned forwards just a little bit, she could snuggle into his warm chest... 

She sat back, blushing. “S-sorry I woke you.” 

“Nah, it's fine. I was, ah, up and about anyway.” He rubbed the back of his head almost nervously. 

“Oh, that's... good. Um, thanks for waking me up.” 

“No problem. Are you alright now? I should probably go tell Mabel that you weren't being murdered or anything.” 

She blushed deeper. She hadn't realised she made that much noise. It had been a long time since she'd had a nightmare of any sort. 

“No, I'm fine now.” 

“Okay. Night.” 

“Night.” 

He left the room, closing the door behind him. Pacifica snuggled down into her bed again. This time it didn't take very long for her to drift off to sleep. And this time when she dreamt, it was much different to the last time. It was a very nice dream. Though it still included a certain boy with warm brown eyes, a little bit of stubble, and no shirt. Her eyes snapped open again. 

“Oh no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe! Yes! You all know what she means.  
> Yet another long chapter. I wasn't kidding when I said I have a lot of work in store. Let me put it to you this way. Most of the chapters in this fic are 6 – 8 pages. So far with everything I've written (including notes) the document is 46 pages. This is the 6th chapter of the fic and is only on the second day... the planned timeline for the fic takes 3 weeks.  
> So yeah... a LOT of writing to go. Oh well. I enjoy it, and I hope you do to.  
> Till next time!!!


	7. Not-Bells and Pianos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This one took a little bit in comparison, didn't it? But to be fair, it's a long chapter. Plus one of my best friends got me back into roleplaying, so I've spent all week updating my blogs. I've even adopted Pacifica as a muse. If you roleplay and want to check her out, the url is pacifica-westwood on tumblr. Just a warning though, it is rife with spoilers for this fic.  
> Also, just so you know (as you can tell by the chapter title) there will be a song played on piano. The tune that is played is the Gravity falls theme song. I tried recording it, so that's on my Pacifica's tumblr.  
> So, enjoy the long chapter!

It was rather quiet in the living room. The twins were sitting on the ground, doing their own thing, and Pacifica was propped up on the couch with her foot up. She was painting her nails while she iced her foot again at Doctor Dipper's insistence.

“Do you ever stop reading that journal?” Pacifica asked, watching as Dipper leafed through the pages. So far she hadn't seen him go a day without looking at it at least once.

“Of course I do,” he replied.”

“Nope,” Mabel said at the same time.

She giggled. “Come on, Dipper, you had to have read it all by now. Probably know it by heart.”

“Getting close to it, but I have to keep looking. What if I've missed something? It's happened before. And what if there's something about the other two journals, or the author? I can't miss anything, not if I want to find them.” For once he wasn't wearing his hat and he ran his hand through his hair in frustration, lifting up his bangs enough for her to see a certain marking on his head.

“Here he goes again,” Mabel Muttered.

“Oh my god, your birthmark is the Big Dipper!” she suddenly cried.

He just looked up at her from his spot on the ground and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, you knew that.”

“No, you said you had a birthmark on your head, not what it was.”

“You saw it yesterday, remember? You woke up and pointed it out, then fell back asleep.”

She tried to recall what he was talking about, and slowly a vague memory came to her. “Oh yeah.” She suddenly went red when she realised that in the memory she was cuddling into him. No. No, that couldn't have happened. Her imagination was still being over-active and silly. Putting her head down, she continued to paint her nails.

After that, they fell back into silence for a while. The only sound in the room was the quiet clacking of Mabel's knitting needles and the Cash Wheel marathon playing in the background. Why were there always so many marathons during the holidays? Finally, she finished off her nails, carefully screwed the brush back on the bottle, and began to blow on them.

“Hey, Sif, can you do my nails when yours a dry?”

“Sure, wh-” She blinked as she properly registered what Mabel had said. “Did you just call me 'Sif'?”

“Yep.”

“Please don't ever call me that again. It's so weird!”

“...Congratulations, you've just made sure she'll call you that forever.”

“She'll give up eventually.”

He peered at her over the top of the journal. “When we were five, she found out what the Ursa Major constellation was.”

What did stars have to do with nicknames? Ursa Major was a constellation that looked like a bear and included the asterism- ...the Big Dipper.

“Oh.”

“And now everyone calls him Dipper!” Mabel cheered.

“I get called Dipper so much, sometimes I forget my real name...”

“It starts with an M, you dorkface!”

“You know, Tiffany and Aubrey call me 'Paz'.”

“Hmm...” She tilted her head side to side, considering the name. “Nope. Don't like it. It sounds weird.”

“Sif sounds weird.”

“I kind of like it. It makes me think of the Goddess Sif,” Dipper commented.

She looked at him, intrigued. “Goddess? ...Continue.”

He chuckled. “The Goddess Sif from Norse mythology. Wife of Thor. Originally she was associated with Earth, fertility, family, wedlock, and rowan trees. And she had really pretty golden hair. Once Loki cut it all off and Thor forced him to make her a wig. But thanks to Marble Comics everyone knows her as Lady Sif, one of the mightiest warriors of Asgard.”

“Okay, I may be warming up to the name a little.”

“Yes! Sif it is!” Mabel said gleefully. “Don't worry. I'm only giving you a nickname because your name is really long. Pa-cif-i-ca. It's a whole four syllables! Sif is easier to say. So it's not like you have a silly name like Ma-”

She ducked as the journal went flying towards her head. It missed and hit the shelf behind her with a resounding thud... a _very_ resounding thud...

“What was that?” she asked the twins.

“Huh?”

“That sound? That did _not_ sound like a book hitting solid wood.” They all looked at the shelf. It was only a small one with two levels, covered by a dusty white sheet. That wasn't the shape of a shelf. “Hold on, I think I know what it is! Take everything off it, even the sheet!”

As the twins began taking items off the shelf and putting them on the ground, she took the bag of ice off her foot and got up. By the time she made it over, Dipper had pulled the sheet off to reveal...

“A piano!” Mabel cried. “Grunkle Stan has a piano?!”

Dipper opened the fall board and hit what should have been high C. All three of them winced. “A very out of tune piano.”

“I don't think this thing has been played in years, or even decades.” She pulled out the stool that had been hidden under it by the sheet and sat down. She hit a few keys and winced again. “Okay, I got this. Dipper, can you open the top and take out the front panels?” He went around to the side and lifted the top and took off the two front parts so they could see all the strings. “Okay, now do exactly what I tell you... this is going to take a while.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Wendy winced as all the noise clanged around her. There was just so much, she could barely concentrate on her magazine. The guy browsing the racks was whistling away, back in the house it sounded like someone was playing an instrument _really_ badly... for over an hour now, and over by the door Soos was unscrewing the bell for some reason. He had just started putting up a small black box when Stan came storming in from his office.

“Soos! What the hell do you think you're doing with my bell?!”

Soos looked down at him from the ladder, a sheepish look on his face despite the height he had on him. “Oh, ah, sorry Mr Pines. But Pacifica is scared of bells and Dipper asked me to take it down for her.”

“She's afraid of bells?” Wendy sniggered.

“And what the hell do you think we're going to replace it with?”

“Ooho! Don't worry about it, Mr P. I got it covered!” He waved his hand under the small black box and suddenly his voice boomed out across the store, saying ' _S-s-s-s-soos's rooooooom!_ ' His eyes widened and a faint blush grew on his cheeks. “Eh, erm... I'll just...” He reached up to the box and pressed a button on the side. “Uhh... Mystery Shack, beep boop!” He waved his hand underneath again.

' _Uh... Mystery Shack, beep boop!_ '

“Yeah, that's not staying.”

“Aww, come on Mr Pines, it's pretty cool,” Wendy said. “You just need to find a better sound for it. Like... something creepy and mysterious.”

“Fine, I'll give it a day. If it doesn't have a tune I like by then, it's gone.”

“Will do, Mr Pines!”

“Yeah, whatever. You know, it's not like I run this place or anything,” he muttered as he walked off.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was two hours after they had discovered the piano. Mabel was thoroughly bored, sitting on the ground with her headphones in, starting to knit the second sweater of the day. Dipper was still leaning on the piano, watching what Pacifica was doing and helping her when needed. He wasn't sure how they'd managed to find all the tools she asked for, but they had all been hidden near the instrument.

Pacifica played a quick tune across the keys and smiled. “There, got it!” She took the tuning lever out and motioned for Dipper to put back the panels.

“Finally!” he exclaimed, taking the lever from her and helping her slide the panels back in place before flopping down into the arm chair. “I can't believe it takes that long to tune a piano!”

“When it's this out of tune, yeah. Actually, it could have taken longer, but I've been tuning my piano by ear for years. Seriously, I don't think it's Stan's piano. No one would just leave their piano alone for years and turn it into a shelf!”

“Then who's is it?” Mabel asked, having taken the headphones off when she heard they were done. “Maybe we should look for clues!”

“Or we could just ask Grunkle Stan.”

“Or that.” She smiled as she listened to Pacifica starting to play a full tune. It was just short, but it was cute and bouncy. “That's pretty. I can't believe you're still playing. Aren't your fingers tired by now?”

“Mabel, you've been knitting for the last three hours. Aren't _your_ fingers tired?” She shook her head. “Didn't think so. Besides I didn't spend two hours tuning this thing not to play it.”

“What tune is that? I've never heard it before,” Dipper said.

“Oh, I wrote this when I was younger. It's a silly little tune, but I like it. And I can play it however I want and it wont sound wrong.” To show them what she meant, she started playing it slowly, turning it from a bubbly tune to something that would be more called sweet or sad.

“I like it,” Mabel chirped.

“Huh. You found that old thing, did you?” They all looked up as Stan came in.

“Yeah, and Sif tuned it! She's really good.”

“Grunkle Stan, who's piano is that? You can't play, can you?”

“Ah, no,” he said awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head. A habit he and Dipper seemed to share. “No, it was my brother.”

Mabel's eyes widened in surprise. “You have a brother?!”

Stan and Dipper both looked at her incredulously. “Mabel...” Dipper said.

“What? Oh, right. _Grunkle_. Grandpa Pines. Doi!” She slapped her head and rolled her eyes. “I guess I just forget sometimes. I mean, he died when dad was a kid and he doesn't remember him. And you never talk about him. And Grandma May never talks about you... I kind of forget you two are... um, connected.”

“Heh. Yeah, your grandma doesn't really like me. My brother and I used to be really close. Almost as close as you two. But it's been thirty years and all...”

Sensing the discomfort in his voice, Pacifica decided to go with one of her favourite tactics when someone was in emotional distress. Subtle subject change. “Thirty years!” she exclaimed, her fingers still drifting over the keys. “This thing hasn't been played in thirty years?!”

“Meh, probably longer. Hey, what's that you're playing?”

“Just something I wrote.”

“An original? Good, can't get sued for copyright. Can you make it creepier?”

“Creepier? Copyright? Wait, what?”

“Hey, it's your fault the bell is being taken down, and now we need a tune to replace it. Now make it creepier.”

When he said that the bell was her fault, she looked at Dipper in confusion. He promptly his his face behind the journal to hide his guilty expression, and she shook her head. Of course he'd noticed. Of course he'd done something.

Turning back to the piano, she started the song from the beginning, this time singing eerily along with it.

“I like it,” Stan said when she had finished. “But it's missing something. It needs something at the end.”

“What about duck quacks?!” Mabel said excitedly.

“Creepy, Mabel.”

“Okay, then. Lighting?”

“Hmm... Could do... Where's Soos' keyboard?”

“Wait, I got it!” Dipper cried. He jumped off the couch and grabbed a tape recorder. “Mabel, come here.” She went over and he whispered in her ear. By the time he was done, they both had huge grins. He held out the recorder. “Ready? One... two... three...”

“Buy stuff from the Mystery Shack!” they said together in the creepiest whisper they could.

Stan raised an eyebrow. “Umm... that sounds creepy... kind of, but I don't think it's quite what-”

“Just wait,” Dipper told him. “Sif, play it again.”

“Really? You're calling me that now, too?”

He just shrugged. “Goddess, remember?”

She blinked. Wh-what did he mean by that? Did... he just call her a goddess? Trying to hide the blush that was starting to spread across her cheeks, she turned back to the piano and began to play. Once again she did the eerie singing, but this time when she got to the end, Dipper hit play on the recorder. A strange, gabbled whisper came out. It sounded mysterious and creepy, and actually fit in with the song. She hit the last note, leaving it hanging in the air and Stan grinned widely.

“Now that's what I'm talking about! Reversed recording and subliminal messages. I'm teaching you kids well.”

The twins grinned at each other and Pacifica looked at him sideways. She had thought that her parents were corrupt, but holy crap, Stan was almost worse than them! The difference was that he actually seemed to care for his family more than his image.

“You think it will do?” Mabel asked hopefully.

“Sure. It's pretty good. But you gotta do it one more time.” He stuck his head though the door and began to shout. “Hey, Soos! Get your ass in here with that box thing!”

“Okay, Mr Pines!” came the reply from the room. Not a minute later, he strolled into the room holding a small black box. “Have we got something to record, Mr Pines?”

“Yeah, the kids have a song to do. Now, record it and get that thing back up on the wall before I fire the lot of you!”

“Um... but I don't work here...” she pointed out.

“Can it, Northwest.” And with that he left, the twins sniggering as he did. That was, until Dipper noticed Pacifica's expression.

“Hey, don't take anything he says to heart, okay? He only acts like a grouchy old man.” She smiled slightly and nodded. “Okay then, let's do this.”

“Alright then, everyone's going to have to get close together, the mic on this thing is pretty bad,” Soos told them. He and Dipper both moved in closer to the piano. “Okay, ready? One... two... three...” With one hand, he held down the recording button, with the other he pointed at Pacifica, indicating for her to start. She played through the song again, and once again, at the end, Dipper played the backwards whisper. After the last note had been played, Soos stopped. He waved a hand under the sensor to play it back and nodded in satisfaction. “And that's a wrap, people.” They all whooped and cheered, glad they'd done it. “I'm going to put this back up above the door.”

“Thanks, Soos. I owe you one,” Dipper grinned.

“Nah, this one's on the house. Gallantry is it's own reward.”

As he left, Dipper turned back around to see Pasifica sitting there with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

“You asked Soos to take the bell down for me?”

He scratched be back of his head awkwardly. “Y-yeah. Well, yesterday you flinched every time it rang. And I mean, what with the other night and your father, and-”

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“I really can't stand that sound. So thank you.”

“Yeah. Sure thing.”

“I didn't even notice that!” Mabel said in amazement. “I mean, I noticed her flinch, I didn't know it was because of the bell. Dipper's good at noticing things like that. Hey! Do you want to keep playing, or we could watch a movie?”

“Yeah, movie would be cool.” She got up from the piano and went and sat on the couch. Dipper went into the kichen to grab a bowl of popcorn, and Mabel went to grab the DVDs.

“Okay, I think it's a Disney day, today,” she said. “Which one? Little Mermaid, Mulan, Tangled, or Frozen?”

“Tangled,” Pacficia and Dipper said at the same time.

“Agreed!” She put the DVD on and got it to the play menu. By that time, Dipper was back with the food and the twins jumped up on the arms couch either side her, their feet up on the scull table.

“Just a warning. This is one of my favourite movies and I _will_ sing the whole way through.”

“So will I!”

“I'm used to it,” Dipper said, already eating the popcorn. Mabel shushed him, even though it was only playing the castle opening scene and he rolled his eyes, retaliating by loudly whistling the Steamboat Mickey tune. It wasn't till about eight minutes in, after the girls had sung the first song and Flynn Ryder was having his first scene that he spoke again, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

“It's like watching you two used together.”

“What?”

“Rapunzel. She's a lot like the two of you. She's bubbly like Mabel. Seems to have as many creative talents as you both. Has long blonde hair and green eyes, like you. Oh, and she has a really horrible mother.”

She snorted softly. “That's rich coming from a guy with brown hair, brown eyes, loves adventure, and doesn't even go by his real name!”

“Ha! She's right. Dipper, you're like Flynn! Hey, Grenda has an iguana. He could be Pascal!” she said excitedly.

“I have a grey that could be Max. She's actually whiter than him. Just as poncy, though.”

“Okay, okay,” Dipper laughed. “Enough turning our lives into a Tangled AU. Let's just watch-”

“Ooh! Shh! I love this song!” Mabel cried as _Mother Knows Best_ began to play.

Dipper just sighed and shook his head as the two girls began to sing. But as they sang, Pacifica's face slowly began to fall.

' _Mother knows best._

_Take it from your mumsy,_

_On your own, you won't survive._

_Sloppy, under-dressed,_

_Immature, clumsy._

_Please! They'll eat you up alive!_

_Gullible, naïve,_

_Positively grubby._

_Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm... vague._

_Plus, I believe, getting kinda chubby._

_I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you..._ '

Her voice faded out and Mabel noticed the absence of her singing partner. She looked over at her friend to see her looking down with an annoyed, but sad expression.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

Pacifica looked at her in surprise. “Huh? Oh, ah, I just realised... my mother's said everything in that last verse to me.”

“I'm going to introduce your mother to the Gremloblin,” Dipper said with a flat voice and a scowl on his face.

“The what? You know what, never mind. What are you two, mind readers? How did you even pick up on that?”

“What? Than you were upset?” Mabel said, a little confused. “It's not hard. It's just paying attention.”

“Oh,” she said. “I guess I'm just not used to people... actually paying attention.”

Mabel gave her a sympathetic smile and put an arm around her in a side hug. She accepted it, leaning her head against her shoulder. From the other side, she felt a warm, slightly sweaty hand slip into hers and give it a squeeze. Her heart fluttered.

No. No, stop! She couldn't do this. He was just being nice to her. She was only getting attached because he was being _really_ genuinely nice to her. That was all. She had to kill this crush before it got to the point where-

She looked up at him and he gave her one of those gorgeous, goofy grins of his that-

Crap. Too late.

Nah-ah. No. She refused to crush on Dipper Pines. The nerdy dork who'd spent most of his summer with his nose in a book. Who had spent an entire fair doing maths equations on a- No, hold on. That had never happened. He had just epically failed his throw and hit Wendy in the eye with a ball... This was the same clumsy guy who was obsessed with the paranormal. Who wore the same few sets of clothes every day. Who lived in a run down, shabby shack with the town conman. The same guy who had helped someone he couldn't stand, just to make his sister happy. The same guy who had saved her life, who had patched her up and accepted her into his home with no complaint. Who had spent the last few days doing everything he could to make her feel better. The guy who had an adorable habit of clicking pens while he was thinking, or chewing on them till they broke. Who's warm russet eyes lit up whenever he smiled...

God damn it, she was doomed.

Tuning out all thoughts of her foolish infatuation, she focused back on the movie. Other than the songs, they carried on in enjoyable silence. The twins were practically sitting on top of her in their bundle on the couch. At one point, Dipper completely surprised her when he suddenly began to sing Flynn's part in _I See the Light_. He was actually really good. She had no idea that he could sing... especially after hearing his horrible rendition of _Disco Girl_ in the bathroom that morning.

After the movie was over, the twins got up and stretched. Pacifica did so herself, trying to get some feeling back into parts of her body.

“Hey!” Mabel cried, exited once more. “If I cut my hair I could totally pass for brunette Rapunzel for that real life - Tangled AU.”

Pacifica nodded in agreement, mulling over Mabel's words. But she wasn't thinking about the AU they'd created anymore. No, something else had stuck, and for some reason it became more and more appealing the more she thought about it.

“I want to cut my hair.”

Mabel looked at her sharply and a wide grin grew on the girl's face.

She was about to have a lot of fun.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, Mabel is certainly going to have a lot of fun with this.
> 
> It was funny writing this chapter, because I was thing to think of other names for Disney and all the movies. Then I realised… Gravity Falls is Disney, and they probably wouldn't have to sensor those. So Disney movies won't be changed. Also, I managed to get a whole day written into one chapter. So Maybe it won't end up being 50 something chapters after all.
> 
> See you next chapter!


End file.
